Until We Get There
by emele807
Summary: Meet Elaine Bates, one of the teens at Ocean Park Hospital. There is no way she's getting out anytime soon; what with her half a heart and failing liver holding her back. Luckily for her, Elaine has her friends by her side, helping her manage the ins and outs of the hospital. Welcome to the red band society—as Elaine likes to call her little group—there until further notice.
1. Chapter 1

"And that about rounds it out for me this morning." I said into the microphone, "I have to go learn about the wonderful world of Henry the fifth." I moved my hips, making the seat move around in a circle. "I'm Elaine Bates, signing off." I sat back in the chair and clicked off the microphone, raising the bars a bit in order to start the music again.

"Great job, Elaine." Mrs. Garrett said as I pulled the headphones off of my head.

"Thanks, Mrs. G." I gave her a smile and stood up in my chair, "I gotta go though. Class awaits." I trailed off, getting a little laugh from Mrs. Garrett.

"Okay, go, I release you." Mrs. Garrett put her hands on my shoulders and shook them a bit. I laughed and stepped to the side, walking around her.

"Bye, Mrs. G." I lifted my hand in a wave and then went for the door.

I stepped out of the radio studio, fixing my wires around so they were comfortable against my chest. The hospital was already a buzz with nurses and doctors and patients. When people think about hospitals, they think that it's all about death and dying, but that's not all true. There's more life in Ocean Park than there is outside. Or at least, I think so.

"Lane! Have I ever told you your voice sounds like an angel?" One of my best friends, Dash, said, throwing an arm around my shoulders. He had a cup of coffee in his other hand, which I promptly took from him and took a sip.

"Oh, you're so full of shit." I laughed out, still holding the coffee. "And where are you headed on this lovely Wednesday morning?"

"Supply closet." Dash said, holding up a joint. I gave him a look, "Don't give me that look, Elaine." Dash warned, "Don't give me that Mom look."

"I'm not giving a Mom look!" I said, raising my shoulders up, "I'm giving a _wish I could join you but Dr. McHottie says no._ look." I said, grinning at him, "Which is _very _different than my Mom look."

"True statement." I heard Leo's voice say. I looked down as he rolled up next to us. "And why are you still obsessed with Dr. McAndrew?"

"Morning, Leo." I said as I rubbed the top of his bald head, "Dr. McAndrew is hot. Okay? Eye candy. And besides I only see him when I'm down here." Leo rolled his eyes.

"So _that's_ why you're always on my floor."

"Sorry. You're not as important as you think you are to me." I lied, making a face and taking another sip of Dash's coffee. Dash barked out a laugh and I smiled at Leo, rubbing his head again, "You coming on this little adventure?"

"Hell yeah." Leo made a face and nodded as he pushed himself. "You in?"

"I should get to class…" I trailed off.

"No, you can't go." Leo shook his head, "Cause if you go and we're not with you, then they'll know that something is up." Leo pointed out, "We're like the three musketeers."

"So you expect me to sit in a supply closet and watch you two get high?" I asked.

"Yeah." Dash said as Leo went, "Yup." I shook my head as I laughed.

"Okay, fine, whatever." I put my hands up, giving in. Dash squeezed me a bit tighter as Leo let out a cheer.

The supply closet was full of odds and ends; old toys, cleaning supplies, wheelchairs, band-aids…you name it, it is probably in that supply closet. Dash perched himself against on top of the small car, I sat on one of the exercise balls, while Leo was in his wheelchair.

"Spark it up." I waved my hand around as Dash pulled out his lighter. I bounced a few times on the ball and glanced at Leo.

"Your eyebrows on are point today." I made an approving face. "Did you do them yourself?" Leo snorted and rolled his eyes. I rolled forward on the ball so I was inches away from Leo's face.

"What are you doing, Lane?" Leo asked, looking at me, eyes rolling up to look at his eyebrows as I licked my thumb and brushed it against his eyebrow bone. Leo flinched back.

"UGH! Why!? Why would you do that?!" Leo cried out with a disgusted look on his face.

"You missed a spot." I simply said with a shrug, rolling back on the ball and resuming my bouncing. Leo shuddered and reached out for the joint. Dash handed it off as he blew out a puff of smoke. I coughed a bit, turning away from the smoke.

"You good?" Dash asked as he took the joint back.

"Yeah, yeah." I waved my hand around the smoke cloud, "I'm good."

"Yo, why do you even have a crush on Dr. McAndrew? He's old enough to be your dad." Leo asked, laughing at me.

"Come _on, _Leo! You gotta be able to admit that he's def one of the hotter doctors." I said back, "He's hot _and _financially stable. You can't really find men like him on the corner." Leo glanced at me and then started laughing. Which caused Dash to start laughing.

"Where do you even get this stuff?" I asked, pulling up my shirt over my mouth.

"Dude, this place is crawling with medical marijuana." Dash started as he took the joint back, "It's called electric avenue and it's awesome sauce."

"Did you just say _awesome sauce_?" I asked, snorting as I laughed at him.

"Crap, we have to get to class." Leo said. I raised my eyebrows at Leo and opened my mouth to say something when Dash cut me off,

"We also have life." Dash profoundly said, waving the joint at Leo.

The door suddenly opened, making all three of us jump and look to see who it was. Dash dropped the joint on the floor and I jumped off the ball, stomping my foot down on it.

"Shit." I whispered out when I saw who it was. Nurse Jackson.

"Seriously?" She asked, eyebrows raised and arms crossed over her chest.

"Buzzkill." Dash mumbled as Nurse Jackson looked at the three of us.

"Alright, let's hear it." She said, backing up and silently commanding us to follow.

"We thought this was the new physical therapy room!" Leo piped up, rolling out of the closet first. I followed, looked at the back of Leo's head with my eyebrows raised,

"Really? That's what we're going with?" I crossed my arms over my chest as I walked next to Leo, Dash on his other side as Nurse Jackson pushed Leo in his wheelchair.

"I guess we got the wrong place." Leo continued, "It seemed pretty small."

"Yeah, it did. Didn't it?" Dash added on, looking at me.

"Well, yeah considering it was a _supply _closet." I got a laugh from Nurse Jackson.

"Listen, I know you three could sell shoes to a snake." Nurse Jackson started, "But, uhm, I'm no snake! So if you're gonna lie, lie well! And know who you're lying to." She lectured.

"Oh boy." Dash groaned out.

"And taking Elaine in with you!" Nurse Jackson sounded disappointed, "How could you guys?"

"Okay, wait." I held up my hand, "I went in there willingly." Nurse Jackson looked at me and then she noticed the coffee cup in my hand. She reached out and yanked it out of my grasp. I let out a little whine, "Seriously!?"

"Elaine, I've told you _so _many times about caffeine!"

"We can get to class! We don't need an escort." Leo changed the subject, glancing over his shoulder as we went down the ramp.

"Well, you got lost in that supply closet so I'm really doubting you're capable of doing that—"

"I'm sorry! I know that looks stupid." Leo said, turning back around. The ramp made it so I was next to Dash, but behind Nurse Jackson.

"Yeah, only if you get caught." Dash mumbled, making me elbow him.

"What did you say, Dash?" Nurse Jackson asked, glancing over at us.

"Nothing." Dash instantly responded.

"Mhmm." I tried to suppress a grin as we went around the corner, getting to the classroom.

In the hospital, there weren't any grades, there was just school. The lessons covered everything we would have been covering in school, if we were there; math, science, English, and so on and so forth. We had kids ranging from thirteen to eighteen. I was one of the oldest in the class, being seventeen and all. I enjoyed the classes, they weren't hard, and I loved the play we were reading; _Henry V_.

Nurse Jackson held Leo back, making Dash and I go into the class while Leo received another lecture. I surveyed the room, spotting Emma sitting towards the front. Dash saw her too and the two of us shared a look as Leo rolled up to us.

"Your girlfriend's here." Dash mumbled.

"Shut up." Leo snapped back, rolling forward.

"Nice of you three to join us." Mrs. Avalon said. I saluted her and glanced at Leo, who rolled down the aisle where there was an empty seat. I sat down behind Emma and started to pull out my books.

"And what did you win first prize for today?" Leo condescendingly said.

"I actually received a major award, but you missed it because you were late." Emma snapped back. I rolled my eyes and glanced to Dash.

"The sexual tension is palpable." I stage whispered. Leo heard me and looked over his shoulder to glare at me. I grinned at him as Dash laughed to himself.

Emma and Leo had a history. They met when Leo first got to Ocean Park, right before I was there. I don't know all the details—Leo doesn't really talk about it—but I do know that they hooked up in one of the supply closets and then Leo chickened out. Now they spend their days poking fun at each other and trying to make the other miserable. It was fun to watch.

Emma was like the little sister I never had. She was the only other girl in our little group and I felt somewhat protective over her. Especially since she was in the hospital because of an eating disorder. She was smart, but all she seemed to do was study, never getting out of her room unless it was for classes or I dragged her out.

"Hey, ya, whatta doin' in that chair?" Emma asked.

"Why are you so skinny?" Leo shot back. I glanced to Dash and raised my eyebrows before clicking my pen open.

"Hey, Leo." Mrs. Avalon called on Leo, "Why don't you tell me about Catherine's relationship with Henry."

"She's totally hot for him." Leo waved his hand around a bit.

"No, she's not!" Emma automatically argued back, "They can't communicate. He speaks _horrible_ French, she doesn't speak English." Emma turned her torso to look at Leo.

"Yeah, but around her, he doesn't have to be the best at everything. That's why she's into him."

"No, that's why he's into her." Emma immediately responded.

"Guys, we're talking about Henry and Catherine, not Leo and Emma." I said, holding up my hands. I got glares from both of them.

"Okay, we get it. Henry's a total pleasure seeker." Mrs. Avalon got back on track, "But, he has no close friends. Why?"

"He's going to war and getting to close to anyone is a bad idea." Leo answered.

"Explain." Mrs. Avalon pressed.

"Cause then it won't be hard to say goodbye." Leo truthfully said. I stopped writing and looked at the back of Leo's head. There was a silence that fell over the classroom and I glanced to Dash. We were all in the same sort of position Henry was; except our battle wasn't against armies, it was against a sickness. When you're in a hospital, the most important part of you, that needs to survive, is you.

"Alright, everyone, let's read the St. Crispin's Day speech to ourselves and then we'll discuss." Mrs. Avalon instructed us. I opened up my book to the page where the speech started.

None of us asked to be admitted to the hospital. We were just teenagers. With bad luck. Leo had cancer in his leg, and his big surgery was a couple months ago where he got his leg cut off. Dash was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis and Emma had an eating disorder. And then there was Charlie, who was the youngest of us, and in a coma.

I was different. I wasn't sick like the others. I just had half a heart and a failing liver. Hypo-plastic Left Heart Syndrome as the big shots liked to call it. It wasn't Maybelline, I was born with it. And had three surgeries to try and fix it. I had the most time in the outside world than my friends. Ocean Park wasn't my first hospital though, I had been transferred from Doylestown Hospital. I had fainted while at work. I had been serving a table at the diner I worked at. I went to place their drinks on the table, but then I blacked out, falling to the ground, drinks spilling all over me. When I got to Doylestown, my family was told my doctor had left.

The liver failure—which was why I fainted-came right before the transfer. I had emergency surgery and was then airlifted to Ocean Park to recover. My family and friends were on the other side of the country, leaving me alone in the hospital. Then I met Dash the next day and the rest is history.

People always think living in a hospital is like living in a jail; like there's only gray walls and bars on the window. That we have all these schedules and no leeway when it comes to us. But I don't see it like that. We have more freedom than I would out in the real world. Like where can you get away with smoking pot and not being punished for it? I've decorated my single room to my heart's—or half of it-content, and yeah the food kinda sucked, but the field trips made up for it. There are bad things, of course, because life isn't perfect, _especially _in a hospital, but I'm making the best of it. Look on the positive side of things. Charlie told me that during my liver biopsy. Don't ask.

"Who's this?" Leo asked as I went over his brows with an eyebrow pencil.

"Tanlines." I answered back, "We can't be falling behind with what's cool and what's not." I simply said as I colored in his eyebrows.

"Well, thank God for you." Leo muttered.

"Just cause you mutter under your breath, doesn't mean I can't hear you." I sang out.

"That's the point." Leo sang back. I gave him a grin as I pulled the eyebrow pencil back. I grabbed his face in my hand, turning it to the side and then turning it back.

"Why are we doing this?" Leo asked, voice muffled a bit since I was squeezing his cheeks together.

"Your eyebrows define your face." I explained, capping the pencil. I was satisfied with my work. Leo laughed at me and looked down at his lap, his bum leg was covered by the blankets on his bed. I twirled my eyebrow pencil in between my fingers as the song played from the iPod speakers.

"I can't get lunch with you guys today, but say hi to him for me." I said after a moment. Leo looked up at me, brow furrowing a bit before he nodded. We didn't need to explain why to each other; we just accepted and moved on. There wasn't time to dwell on the why's and how's.

"Anybody home?" I heard a voice say from behind me. I looked over my shoulder as Leo looked over me. The door was open and in stepped Dr. McHottie himself. I gave him a once over and quickly raised my eyebrows.

"Sorry, was I interrupting something?" Dr. McHottie asked, pausing.

"I was just leaving." I made a face and scooted off the bed. I picked up my heart monitor and let the strap fall across my chest. "Doesn't Leo look good?" I asked, glancing at Leo. His face flushed and he looked down at his lap again.

"Nice job, Elaine." Dr. McHottie winked at me. Now it was my turn to flush and look at my shoes. I kept my eyes on the ground as I turned on my heels, looking to Leo.

"Uh, talk later?" I asked.

"Talk later." Leo nodded and I tried not to smile as I turned back around to look at Dr. McHottie.

"Dr. McAndrew." I nodded at the doctor and walked by him, "I have a date with Nurse Jackson."

"Have fun." Dr. McHottie raised his eyebrows at me as I walked by him.

"I plan to." I said with a grin as I walked out of the Swamp.

I headed down the hall, going to the service elevators as I twisted the red band around my wrist. If anything, the hospital was like high school. You had your cliques; the cancer patients, the cardiac kids, the eating disorder kids. You had your staff; the nurses and doctors. You had the kids that the doctors loved and the kids that the doctors hated. And then you had us. I didn't know what we were, but it was a combination of all of the above.

"You're late." Nurse Jackson said as I walked into my room.

"I was busy putting on Leo's face." I said, shrugging. Nurse Jackson made a noise as she ushered me to my bed. I sat on the edge before falling back so my head was against the pillow.

"How's the heart working?"

"Would I be here if it wasn't?" I asked with a slight smile as I turned my head to look at her. Nurse Jackson gave me a hint of a bemused smile before grabbing my arm.

"Brittany said she had to stick you twice yesterday." Nurse Jackson started to say as she rubbed her gloved thumb around the top of my hand.

"That's because she's an idiot and doesn't listen to me." I scoffed out, looking back up at the ceiling. "I _told _her to just go for the hand, but does she listen _nooooo_." I raised my free hand up.

"I bet you did, honey." Nurse Jackson said as she pushed the needle into my skin. I glanced over to see the top of the butterfly needle sticking out of my hand, the tube attached filled with blood.

"Got your period yet?" Nurse Jackson asked.

"Nope." I let the _p_ pop.

"We should get you to endo and have that sorted out."

"Or we could _not _do that." I said, raising my eyebrows as I stared at the ceiling.

"Elaine…" Nurse Jackson started with a warning tone. I glanced at her and then sighed before looking back up at the ceiling, "How much water have you had today?" She moved on.

"Three bottles." I answered truthfully. That was the fastest way to get through the twenty plus question quiz.

"And have you taken your Sildenafil yet?"

"No."

"Elaine, you have to take that three times a day." Nurse Jackson switched the tubes out and made a disapproving noise. I blew out a breath, but didn't answer. I went through the rest of Nurse Jackson's questions as she finished filling up the tubes with my blood.

"I'll order you some lunch." She said as she popped the needle out. I sat up a bit as she placed a cartoon band-aid over top the mark.

"I'm gonna go upstairs to hang out with Emma, so I'll just eat with her." I said, shifting around on the bed. Nurse Jackson nodded and wrapped her stethoscope around her neck. She gave me a look and I held up my hands.

"I'll make sure she eats a little bit." I said.

"Stay out of trouble, Elaine." Nurse Jackson brandished a finger at me before walking out of my room. I blew out a breath and looked around, sitting in silence for a moment before hopping off my bed and going for the door.

When you live in a hospital, you learn the ins and outs of the building; where they can watch you and where they can't. Like the service elevator, where I kissed Leo just so I could get my first kiss over with, or the supply closet, or even the roof. They couldn't watch us all the time.

Emma's room was on the floor above Leo's, where they kept the teens with eating disorders. The service elevator let me off a couple rooms away and I made my way down the hall, monitor bumping against my hip.

"Woah, you've replaced me?" I asked as I walked into Emma's room, where a blonde in a cheer uniform was standing, her back to me. The cheerleader turned around and gave me a once over before giving me the stink eye.

"And you are…?" The blonde sneered out.

"Elaine Bates." I stuck my hand out. The cheerleader eyed it before looking back up at my face.

"Does it _look like _I can shake your hand?" She asked, raising her arm which was in a sling and then her other hand had a half of Emma's sandwich in it.

"What is she doing with your sandwich?" I asked, pointing to the sandwich and making a face as I rocked back on my heels.

"What's it to you?" The blonde snapped out, "God, what are you? Her _mom_?" I gave a little laugh and glanced at Emma, who was standing by her desk, looking timid. I shook my head and raised my hands in the air a bit and backed up.

"For a replacement, you've chosen an awfully bitchy one."

"I didn't—she just came in here." Emma spoke up, waving her hand at the cheerleader.

"It's fine, Emma." I gave her a small smile, "I'll see you later." I glanced to the cheerleader, who was still giving me a disgusted look. I winked at Emma and stepped out of her room, going back towards the service elevator.

I pressed the down button and stepped back, fixing my strap of my heart monitor as I blew out a breath. I glanced around myself only to see the cheerleader stomping down the hall, coming for the service elevator. A groan escaped from my mouth before I could stop it. The cheerleader gave a scoff and stood next to me, facing the elevator doors. We stood in silence as she angrily chomped on the rest of Emma's sandwich.

"I thought cheerleaders didn't eat carbs?" I asked, glancing at her.

"Well, this place doesn't know what kale is so…" The cheerleader snapped out as the elevator door opened. In the center sat Leo with some other kid in a wheelchair.

"Look at you two, all matchy matchy with your Hot Wheels." The cheerleader waved her sandwich in between Leo and the other guy. Leo raised his eyebrows at me as I stepped inside.

"Not exactly, he has two legs and I only have one." Leo answered the girl, making her look over her shoulder.

"Excuse me?" The cheerleader asked before turning back and eating the sandwich.

"Yeah...yeah, so tomorrow I'm getting mine cut off so I can look just like him." The guy said. I grinned at him.

"Ew, sick." The cheerleader looked disgusted.

"Where'd you find this one?" I asked, pointing at the kid and directing my question to Leo.

"New roomie." Leo piped up, "Jordi, meet Elaine. She's our resident Mom."

"Hey!" I cried out, "I'm offended, we're the same age." I pressed a hand to my chest.

"But you're a cool Mom." Leo tried to save himself, "You're a cool, hot Mom."

"Like a MILF?" Jordi asked, glancing at Leo. Leo looked at him and then back to me, eyes traveling up before resting on my face. I gave him a wry smile as I turned back to look at the cheerleader. I glanced over to see Leo's attention on her ass.

"Ah, you should hang with us tonight. We're having a good-bye party for his leg." Leo said once he took his eyes off of the cheerleader's ass.

"_Please_. You know if we went to the same school, I wouldn't even be talking to you." The cheerleader scoffed.

"We're like the friggin' Breakfast Club of Ocean Park." I said, crossing my arms over my chest, "The cheerleader, the newbie, the jock—"

"And that makes _you _the loser girl." The cheerleader snapped out. I arched an eyebrow and glanced down at Leo, who let out a low whistle.

"You know, I have a theory on why all cheerleaders are mean." Leo started, making the girl groan.

"_What_ does everyone have against cheerleaders around here?!" She snapped out, looking over her shoulder at us.

"It's cause deep inside you know you've already peaked and it's just downhill from here."

"I have not peaked!" The cheerleader protested.

"And in a few years time when you're working at the grocery store, you know desperate for your high school reunion to relive your glory days, you'll be filled with regret that you made the choice to blow off a party because you thought you were better than everyone else there!"

"Oh my God! Stop with the word vomit!" The cheerleader turned away from us, trying to block Leo's words.

"Hey, the truth hurts." Leo easily said, getting the cheerleader to turn back around.

"You want some truth?" The girl asked, "Those bracelets are so done. Who wears them anymore?" She asked, flicking her hand in between me and Leo and motioning to our red bands. The elevator doors opened and she stomped out as Leo called after her,

"You don't even know what these are!" He was laughing as the cheerleader disappeared down the hall.

"Where'd you even find her?" Leo asked, a smile still on his face as he looked at me.

"Stockpiling Emma's food in her sling." I sighed out, "She's gonna be fun, huh?"

"Oh hell yeah." Leo said, rolling out of the elevator. I snorted and shook my head, following after him.


	2. Chapter 2

The thing about the cardiac floor is that you see a bunch of kids who look relatively normal and healthy, but then you see the feeding tube coming from their nostrils, or the heart monitor wires and then you realize that they could possibly be in a worse position than you are. At least my heart was working on its own, for now at least.

When I was born, the doctors gave my parents two options; let me die or put me into surgery. You can pretty much guess which one they chose. I had a normal childhood for the most part, just the added bonus of doctor visits every month and a colorful array of pills taken twice a day—more being added each year. I was doing well until my liver failed. Really, really well; I played sports and worked a job, but now I wasn't even allowed to run.

Plus, I barely see my parents since they live three thousand miles away and couldn't very well up and move and leave the jobs that they had been working in order to pay my hospital bills off. My friends had fallen off the face of the Earth after pretending to care for a little bit because they thought it would get them brownie points. And I was pretty much alone expect for the little red band society.

Hospital life isn't all rainbows and unicorns; I have been woken up in the middle of the night by nurses in order to check my vitals, there were loads of testing, and had blood drawn every other day. But again, being positive helps a lot.

Leo's room, or The Swamp, had an extra bed which I could only assume was Jordi's. I went over to Leo's bed and sprawled out, groaning a bit when the snaps of my heart monitor dug into my skin at an awkward angle.

"So are we really having this party?" Jordi asked as he got out of the wheelchair. I rolled over onto my back and stared at the ceiling, seeing a picture of me and Leo taped above me.

"Oh yeah." Leo seriously said, "I don't joke about parties."

"He doesn't." I said, letting my head roll to the side to look at Jordi. Jordi gave me a nervous smile, his eyes going around my body.

"You can ask, you know." I said, raising my eyebrows, "I mean, you wanna know how fucked up I am." I said, making Jordi pale a bit.

"Uh, uhm…no—no." Jordi stuttered out, "You don't have to tell me."

"Jordi, it's cool." I said, smiling at him, "I'm only missing half a heart." I casually said.

"Way to be, Elaine." Leo said from the middle of the room. Jordi looked at me, eyebrows furrowed.

"Is that why you wear the monitor?" He asked. I nodded, "But you don't look…like you're missing half of it."

"Thanks, Jordi." I gave him a genuine smile. "You're sweet, you know?" Jordi looked embarrassed and looked back down at his lap.

"So when did you get to Ocean Park?" He asked after a moment.

"A little after Leo." I said, sitting up on the bed, "Met Dash first though."

"Always gotta rub it in my face." Leo sighed out, shaking his head. I grinned at him before looking back to Jordi.

"It's a nice group here." I said, swinging my legs back and forth. "I think you'll fit in quite nice."

"Even better when I'm missing one of my legs...seems like everyone's missing something." Jordi joked. I gaped at him, laughing a bit, before looking at Leo.

"Don't let this one go." I said, pointing at Jordi as Leo grinned at me.

"Not planning on it."

"Well, I have to go." I said, hopping off of Leo's bed. "Anything you want me to get for this soiree?" I asked.

"It's a party, not a French gathering." Leo laughed at me. I gave him a look, "But food would be useful."

"I'll see what I can do." I said, winking at Leo, "And try and get Emma to come, okay? She can't be holed up in that room forever. There's only so much a girl can learn." Leo nodded and rolled over to his bed, pushing up, out of the chair and falling onto the bed.

"I'll see you boys later." I said, waggling my fingers at the two of them before exiting.

After I was given the duty of snacks for Jordi's party, I had gotten off the service elevator and made my way to the echo room where I was supposed to have an echo done. The blonde cheerleader who had stolen Emma's sandwich was sitting outside the room, looking pissed.

"Uh, hi…" I started. She looked up at me and then looked away in disgust, "Are you lost?"

"If I was lost do you think I would just be sitting here?" She snapped out.

"Wow, okay." I raised my eyebrows and put my hands up. "Was just trying to be friendly." The girl looked at me and then looked away, shifting in her seat.

"I'm not lost." She grumbled out. "I'm just waiting for an Echo and an EKG…whatever the hell that means." I cautiously sat down next to the girl, pulling my heart monitor onto my lap.

"It's where they put these stickers on your chest and then attach wires to monitor your heart. It's an—"

"Do I look like I care?" The girl snapped out.

"What the hell is your problem!?" I snapped back without even realizing it. The girl looked taken aback, "Honestly." I stated, "You are sitting in a _hospital_. Would it kill you to show a little empathy? Or is that why you're here? Because you showed some and your heart was like _nope can't do it_." I took in a breath and sat back in my chair. The girl was quiet, arms crossed over her chest as she slid down in her chair.

"Sorry." I said letting out a breath, "Sorry, I didn't mean to…I mean I did, but I didn't mean for it to come out so harsh." I glanced at the girl.

"It's fine." The cheerleader mumbled out.

"Kara?" Brittany came out of the dark room, "We're ready for you." The cheerleader, Kara, stood up. Brittany noticed me, "Hi, Elaine! So, we're gonna have to reschedule your Echo for tomorrow, but it would be really great if you stuck around and helped Kara out!" Brittany enthusiastically said. I gave her a tight smile back. Kara gave me the stink eye.

"Sure." I said, "Good luck." I raised my eyebrows to Kara as she slipped into the room after Brittany.

I settled against the chair and pulled out my phone from the pocket of my hoodie. There was a text from Dash asking what kind of beer I thought would be best for Jordi's party. I snorted to myself before responding

_Can't drink, remember?_

When the text sent, I went back to my inbox, pulling up a new text to Leo, _Yo, I know I'm snack girl, but I'm stuck at Echo for another half an hour and I need you to pick up snacks. _

Leo responded with a smiley face emoji and then a bunch of food ones. I rolled my eyes and shoved my phone back into my pocket.

It's not like I didn't want to not drink. I loved being underage and drinking. It was part of my rebel teenage angst youth blood that ran in my veins. But ever since I was admitted, I wasn't allowed to drink or smoke or do anything remotely illegal to my body. I hadn't been a big partier when I was living in the real world, but I liked to go out with my friends and drink in the woods every now and then. I missed it sometimes. I knew the consequences though, and they weren't very good.

"Did you have to _jab it_ into my throat!?" Kara's voice made me jump as she came storming out of the room, rubbing her throat as the back of her hospital gown flapped open. Brittany stepped out after her, giving her a small smile.

"Well, now you can go back to your room and Nurse Jackson will get you all situated with a heart monitor." Brittany noticed me, "Elaine can take you!"

"Great." Kara grumbled out, giving me one look before stomping down the hall. I let out a sigh before pushing out of my chair.

"Got any more great ideas, Britt?" I asked, raising my eyebrows before going after the cheerleader.

"God, she like kept pressing down and it hurt like a bitch!" Kara trilled out, still rubbing her throat.

"Yeah, they don't really get the idea of comfort during those things." I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest, "Wait till you get to the exercise tests." Kara gave me a once over again, noticing my heart monitor.

"Please tell me that stupid box isn't the heart monitor." Kara groaned out, tipping her head back, "That's gonna clash with everything!"

"Actually, I think it goes pretty well with hoodies and leggings." I said, "And I think it's a little too late to be worrying about fashion with that hospital gown you've got on." I motioned to her hospital gown, "Sidenote, the back is open and your underwear is showing."

"Ugh!" Kara stomped her foot as the service elevator came up, "Fix it!" I raised my eyebrows at her, "Please?" She asked out as an afterthought. I made a face.

"Nah." I said, stepping into the elevator. Kara let out a frustrated groan before stepping in next to me.

"For someone's who is supposedly the Mom of this dumb place, you sure are acting like mine." I gave her a confused look, "She's not much of a Mom." Kara said out, leaning forward.

"Ah." I lifted my chin up as I pressed the floor button. Kara continued to struggle with the tie as the elevator went down. I watched her for a few seconds before sighing and stepping behind her, swatting her hands away and tying the gown together.

"There." I said, stepping to the side as the elevator came to a stop.

"Thanks." Kara softly said as she stepped out in front of me. I raised my eyebrows and followed the cheerleader out into the hall. She led me down to her room, which she was sharing with Charlie.

"You're sharing with Charlie?" I asked, stepping inside as Kara went over to her bed.

"Coma boy makes a good roomie. Doesn't do anything to annoy me." Kara said, getting out her purse and pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

"Woah!" I snatched them out of her hand, "Are you serious?!"

"_What_?" She spat out.

"You're in a _hospital." _I said. "You can't smoke here!" I cried out, "Jesus. I mean, I don't do stereotypes, but my God, you've got to be the stupidest cheerleader I've ever met!" I laughed out. Kara stared at me.

"Ladies." Nurse Jackson said from behind me. I shoved the cigarette box into my pocket and spun around. Nurse Jackson was holding Kara's heart monitor in her hands.

"Let's get started." Nurse Jackson walked around me as Kara hopped up onto the bed. Her sling had been traded in for a smaller cast like thing. Nurse Jackson went around her and untied the robe. I watched as Nurse Jackson started to attach the stickers to Kara's chest, and then pressing the snaps against the metal clasps that were on top of the stickers. Kara cringed as Nurse Jackson went around her chest before stepping back.

"You need to wear this at all times." Nurse Jackson instructed, "It has your heart rate, the time, the date and whenever you feel your heart double beat or you don't feel well, press it. And it'll clock it." Kara nodded and took the monitor from Nurse Jackson, setting it beside her on the bed and pulling the hospital gown back on.

"Your parents are going to be here soon." Nurse Jackson said, "I'm going to go wait for them." She glanced to me and I gave her a charming smile, "Try not to kill her."

Nurse Jackson left the room and I turned to see Kara shifting around, trying to get comfortable with the heart monitor. She kept grimacing and grunting.

"It's tough to get used to. I know. And you can't shower for like two days." I said, blowing out a breath, "Which sucks. And you have to sleep on your back or your sides cause if you don't then the buttons dig into you and that hurts. And sometimes it beeps in the middle of the night just to fuck with you." I said, rolling my eyes upward, "And no more v-necks or else the top button right in the center will be seen." Kara was staring at me, jaw slacked a bit.

"So what is it? What's wrong with the heart?" I asked, stepping up to her.

"It's…enlarged." Kara responded, fixing her bra so it didn't press against the one button.

"Well, that's…cool." I said, brow furrowing, "Are they gonna give you a new heart?" Kara stared at me like I was stupid. "Yeah, sorry, stupid question." I put my hands up, "I guess you want to be alone when your parents get here." I said, taking a step back.

"What about you?" Kara asked, "Why do you have to wear this thing?" She asked, holding up the monitor.

"Simple terms include _missing the left side of my heart." _I said, giving a shrug with a small smile. Kara's eyes widened, "Yeah, that's the usual reaction."

"Can you…Can we talk about it?" Kara asked, "I mean, you're the only other one I've met that isn't starving herself or missing a leg or in a coma." Kara motioned to Charlie. I nodded at her.

"Yeah, yeah sure."

And for the next twenty minutes, it seemed like Kara was an actual human being. It wasn't about her for once, it was about what was going to happen now. She asked questions, listened and even looked a little remorseful. Then her parents came.

I was ushered out of the room so Kara and her parents could talk with Dr. Holstman, the doctor who took care of the cardiac kids. Nurse Jackson took me down the hall, arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"We were thinking of moving Kara into your room."

"No." I said, shaking my head, "No, sorry. I like my single room."

"It wasn't really a question." Nurse Jackson said, giving me a look. I sighed.

"Okay." I gave in, knowing I had no choice in the matter. Nurse Jackson gave me a knowing smile and patted my cheek.

"This'll be good."

"For her or for me?" I asked. Nurse Jackson just gave me a smile and walked away from me. I sighed and walked down the hall to Leo's room.

"I got _stuck_ with Satan with pom-poms as a roomie!" I said as I pushed the door open.

"Daaaaamn." Leo drew the word out, "I don't think I've ever heard you refer to someone as Satan."

"With pom-poms." I said, pointing at him as I dropped down to sit next to him in the beanbag chairs.

"Elaine never really talks shit about anyone. She's on this whole _find something good in everyone _kick." Leo explained, looking to Jordi who was reading a comic book.

"But this girl is an exception." I held up a finger.

"I think she's funny." Leo said with a shrug. I gave him a look.

"So where's the beer and the snacks?" I asked.

"Dr. Dick stole his car back before we could get the stuff out." Leo grumbled out, shifting against the bean bag.

"I don't think he stole his car back when he actually owns it." I whispered out, making a face. Leo gave me an unamused look.

"Yo. Got the key card for the roof from Ruben." Dash skated in on his rip stick.

"Oh, yes." Leo grinned.

"But I had to trade him the weed to get it."

"What?" Leo asked, leaning forward. I gave Dash a look,

"Look, he said we shouldn't be smokin' it, man. Plus, this is L.A. it's all about location."

"This party's a total bust." I sighed out, rubbing my temple.

"I'm sorry, Jordi." Leo looked to Jordi

"Are you kidding? As my life goes, this is a pretty good day." Jordi nodded at us.

"Yo, your life must suck." Dash blatantly said.

"No tips, please." Kara said as she came into the boys' room, setting down a six pack of beers. "I'm getting _so wasted_ tonight, boys." She said as she picked up one of the beers and twisted off the cap, "And that is _not_ an invitation." She glanced around the room as she took a giant swig of her beer.

"Guessing the meeting with your parents went well." I raised my eyebrows as Kara pulled the bottle from her lips. Kara handed me one of the beers.

"No thanks." I said, putting my hand up.

"Who are you?" Leo asked, sounding amazed by the blonde standing above him.

"Your new best friend." Kara handed the beer she was going to give to me off to Leo.

"Uh, no, sorry, the position of annoying talking animal has already been taken." I said, glancing to Kara as she sat down on the other side of Leo.

"Well, then maybe I can be a different kind of friend." Kara gave a wry smile to me and then winked to Leo. I felt my mouth drop open and looked up at Dash, who shrugged.

"Hey, guys!" Emma cheered as she came into the room and then she fell quiet as she realized who was there.

"Well, well. If it isn't the human sleeping pill. Sleep disorder clinic's on the fourth floor, honey." Kara snidely said, but Emma was on her game.

"Aw, what happened? You lose your pom-poms?" Emma asked back. I pulled an impressed look and glanced at Kara to see her narrowing her eyes at Emma. Leo laughed a bit and took a sip of his beer.

"Alright, yo, yo, let's roll." Dash said, stepping back on his rip stick.

"So what, we're just gonna, like, drink beer on the roof? Big whoop." Kara scoffed out.

"Yolo." Dash pointed at Kara as he went out of the room. I got to my feet and helped Leo up, holding his arms as Jordi grabbed his crutches and handed them to Leo. I handed him his hand and jacket, which he slipped on. Then the rest of us followed Dash out to the service elevator, taking it as high as it would go.

"Oh, Dash, this is friggin' amazing." Leo sounded seriously impressed as he climbed up onto the roof first.

"Yeah." I breathed out, seeing how the roof had been decorated. There were tealights strung across the square which was full of pillows and chairs and blankets. The roof overlooked the city of L.A. and the sun was setting giving us the perfect view.

"It wasn't me, man. It was the magic man, Ruben."

We all settled around the chairs and couches, talking to each other and hanging out like regular teens. Somehow Jordi had gotten ahold of a guitar and started to sing to us, which prompted Dash to try and beatbox along. I sat in one of the chairs, holding a water bottle and jamming along with Jordi and Dash, catching Leo's eye every now and then and laughing at the two of them.

After the jam session, everyone broke off into little twosomes. I pulled my chair over to Leo and sat down next to him. He gave me a small smile and we sat in silence for a few moments, watching as Dash put a blanket around Kara and Emma drew on Jordi's leg. I reached out and took Leo's hand in mine, pulling it to me so I could twist the bracelets that were one his wrist around.

"You know, the first day I met you, I thought you were the coolest person ever." I started to talk, "With your wheelchair and your one leg and your…youness." Leo laughed. I grinned at him, "And you just welcomed me into your life and it felt like I had known you for years instead of just a few hours." I paused, "I don't feel like I'm in a hospital when I'm with you, dude. I…feel like me. Like how I was and that's totally weird and deep and I'm not like going to profess my love to you and freak you out." I snorted as Leo gave me a small smile, "I want you to be happy, Leo. You deserve all the happiness in the world." I said, looking him straight in the eyes. Leo stared at me for a moment before looking down at his red bands.

"I have to do something." He said before looking back up at me. I raised my eyebrows at him as he leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "Come on." He squeezed my hand and used one of his crutches to get himself to his feet, or foot. I steadied him for a second before letting go and handing him his other crutch.

Leo had everyone gather around and I ended up sitting next to Dash. I stared up at Leo, pulling the sleeves of my hoodie over my hands to keep warm.

"I've been wearing these for a long time. It's time to let them go." Leo started.

"Worst party favors ever." Kara grumbled out.

"This is from my first trip to the E.R. Dash was there that night. It was the first time we met. He kept playing dead and freaking out all the nurses." I laughed at that, elbowing Dash as he shook his head and took the bracelet from Leo.

"Emma. This is from my first surgery. And I want you to wear it, to keep you safe." Leo took off another bracelet. Emma got up and Leo handed it to her.

"Thanks, Leo." Emma sincerely said as she slipped the bracelet on her tiny wrist. Leo looked to Kara.

"Kara. My skin graft—"

"Ugh!" Kara made a face and shuddered, "T.M.I. I just threw up in my _mouth_." I laughed at that.

"'Cause I believe, like skin, there are layers to you that have yet to be revealed." Leo handed off the bracelet and I saw Kara hold it tightly in her hand, letting her finger skate around the edges.

"Jordi. This is the most important band of all." Leo played with his other bracelet, "I wore it when I had my big surgery. And I want you to know you're not alone." Leo slipped off the bracelet and handed it off to Jordi, who had stood up to take the bracelet.

"We few. We happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that sheds his blood with me. Shall be my brother." Leo looked at all of us. I gave him a small thumbs up as everyone played with their bracelets.

The party disbanded a few minutes later, all of us heading our separate ways. I went down to Charlie's room and sat beside his bed. He looked so peaceful, even though I knew he wanted to be awake and with us. He didn't want to be stuck in the Inbetween—his words, not mine.

"What's up, kiddo?" I asked, shifting around so my heart monitor was on my lap, "You missed a pretty great party, but don't worry, we'll have one for you when you wake up." I gave him a smile. "I got a roomie. Her name's Kara and I think Leo might have a crush on her." I paused, "Is it wrong for me to be jealous?" Charlie didn't answer, obviously. I laughed to myself, "I'm not jealous, Charlie. I'm happy for him." I twisted my own red band around my wrist, "I should be." I whispered out.

"Hey." Leo's voice said from the door, making me look up.

"Hi." I gave him a soft smile, "Where's everyone else?"

"Hanging around." Leo shrugged and hobbled into the room on his crutches, "How's Charlie?"

"Still sleeping." I looked to the boy, "I was just telling him that you owe him a party when he wakes up."

"Oh def." Leo nodded and sat on the edge of Charlie's bed. "Hey, buddy. This is for you." Leo took off another red band, leaving two on his arm, "I didn't want to say the reason why up on the roof in front of everyone." Leo glanced to me. I put my hands over my ears. Leo laughed and tugged my hands down.

"But when I was having my big surgery, you spoke to me. You know, when I was under anesthesia. And you said something that only tonight I've come to understand. You said, _luck isn't getting what you want. It's surviving what you don't want. _And, man I'm surviving." Leo looked to me. I couldn't help but smile at him and then look down at my lap, "I only hope I can be half the man you are, my friend." Leo placed the red band on the bedside table.

"You are." I softly said, taking Leo's hand again. Leo gave me a smile and then took his hand away from mine. I watched as he took off the other red band.

"This was my very first red band. You already have one, so I figured this one could get your collection started." I gave a small laugh as Leo took my wrist to slip on the red band, "You deserve to be happy too, Lane." Leo gave me a smile as his fingers twisted the red band around my wrist. I reached my arms around and hugged Leo tight, pulling him against my body.

"Talk later?" I whispered.

"Talk later." Leo instantly responded. He hugged me close and I smiled to myself.

The radio station had a window that I could see patients and doctors walking the halls through. I saw Jordi's bed being pulled by me and I sent a quick text to Leo to reassure him that everything would be okay. My heart monitor was resting on the table next to me as the giant headphones pressed against my ears. A Coldplay song was playing as I got the next couple tracks ready.

"Elaine." Mrs. Garrett got my attention. I pulled off the headphones, "A girl in room five-one-one-five needs you." I felt my brow furrow and pushed back, grimacing a bit as the monitor fell to the ground.

"I'll, uh, be right back." I said, gathering up my heart monitor and hurrying out of the room. I ran down the hall, hair flying out behind me.

"Elaine! No running!" Brittany's voice called out, clear as day. I skidded to a stop outside of the room, barely catching the roll of tape Kara tossed at me.

"Help me." She said before climbing up on a chair.

"With what?" I asked, looking at the masking tape.

"I saw in a movie once that they got pizza to their room by taping it on the window." Kara explained, "And Charlie wants pizza." I glanced to Charlie's slumbering form before grinning to myself.

"He spoke to you didn't he?" I asked.

"Just shut up and help me." Kara grumbled out. I grinned and hurried over, ripping off a piece of tape and started to spell out ROOM.

**_A/N: I really wasn't expecting this much feedback! You guys rock. Honestly, thank you so much for following/favoriting this story and to all who reviewed; Ms Teen Wolf Girl, kathrynwerewolves14, MyFandoms7, RHatch89, aliicerosee, Emilee, RedBandGal, Lonely-soul101, Guest, bezerker-xxx, FinalFantasyCrazedGirl01, and SheebaDiva! Thank you thank you thank you! xxx_**


	3. Chapter 3

"Come on, Leo." I held Leo's hands tightly as I steadied him. There was a smile on my face as I looked at Leo's feet, one real and socked one, and one plastic one, "Okay, I'm gonna let go."

"No!" Leo laughed out as he swayed a bit, "Elaine, _don't_."

"You can't hold onto me forever!" I laughed back before pulling my hands out of his grasp. "Walk to me, Leo." I said in a deep voice. Leo laughed and took a shaky step forward with his good leg, "C'mon." I waved him forward as he took a step with his new leg. He teetered a bit and I reached out for him, but he regained his balance, limping forward.

"It's like you're a baby and I'm the Mom."

"Don't do that, Elaine." Leo laughed as he took another step with his new leg. That's when he slipped, falling against the bed and then going down to the ground.

"Damnit!" He shouted, pulling the fake leg off. I sat down on the floor with him, giving him a small smile.

"You got two steps in." I positively said. Leo gave me a look before shoving the leg away from him.

"This is useless. It hurts and doesn't feel right."

"Maybe it's a lefty." I joked, trying to get a smile out of Leo. Leo just gave me an unamused look.

"Yo, yo, yo." Dash greeted us as he came into the Swamp, "How's the new leg?"

"Not well, my friend." I said, motioning to the discarded leg. Dash gave a low whistle.

"I gotta get out of here." Leo said, using the bed to help him to a standing position. "Jordi's gonna be in surgery for a couple more hours and I need to distract myself."

"We could go get breakfast." I suggested, "Coffee, maybe."

"That is an excellent idea." Dash pointed at me.

"Or the golf course and hit some balls." Leo prompted.

"With what?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. Leo used his crutches and hobbled over to the leg.

"Booyah." Dash nodded at him.

"I don't think that's such a good…" I started to say, but Leo was already hobbling out, Dash behind him, "Idea…" I finished before getting to my feet and slinging my heart monitor over my shoulder, following the boys.

Leo rounded up everyone, taking us to the golf course that was outside of the hospital. Doctors used it to relieve stress and others used it as therapy. Leo had other ideas. I settled myself down on the grass, Kara sitting next to me as Dash held Leo's other crutch. Leo had a bucket of golf balls and a tee set up as Emma leaned against one of the poles of the structures that were littered around the lawn.

Dash began commentary as Leo lined up his first shot, using the foot of the leg as the club. Kara was on her phone—Nurse Jackson apparently had given it back—I had a book in my lap and coffee in my other hand while Emma was still in her pjs.

"And it's Leo Roth for the win!" Dash cheered, "The crowd goes wild! Ladies flash their funbags in deference! Whoo!" Dash pumped Leo's crutch in the air. I laughed at him.

"You mean boobs?" I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Yeah, 'cause _that_ happens in golf." Kara sarcastically said as she scrolled through her phone.

"Are you sure this isn't gonna break your new leg?" Emma asked, shifting so she was leaning against the pole.

"Uh, yeah. Would that be so terrible?" Leo asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Your parents might think so, seeing as they're the ones who paid for it. Also, your physical therapist will probably have an opinion on the subject." Emma was beginning to lecture, "Speaking of which, aren't you meant to be working with him right now?"

"Wait, I thought Lane the Pain was the mother hen." Kara spoke up, pointing to me, "Or do you two take shifts?" She asked, glancing in between the two of us.

"Yeah, Emma does morning and I do afternoon." I said, not even looking up from my book, "Sometimes we switch. Gotta keep it interesting."

"No wonder Emma and Leo broke up. Hashtag Rexy ain't sexy." Whatever cold shell I had broken through with Kara yesterday, was back up, cemented into place with carbonite. I rolled my eyes at Kara and looked to Leo, who was tossing the foot in his hand.

"Guys, do you have any idea what's happening right now?" He asked us.

"Climate change?" Emma asked.

"No peace in the Middle East?" Dash offered.

"Pregnant Kardashian?" Kara gave an option.

"Leaked nudes of famous people?" I asked with a shrug. Leo looked at all of us with a _you've got to be kidding me_ look.

"Jordi's about to lose his leg." He said, motioning with his fake one.

"Oh, you meant, like, _now_ now." Dash sighed out, stabbing the crutch down into the grass.

"Can you just think about it for a second? Every morning, you get out of bed, put two feet on the ground, and stand up. Like it's easy, like it's nothing. You put your pants on one leg at a time. I mean, it's such a basic concept it's literally an expression. It means you're just like everybody else. Except me and Jordi." Leo paused, "We're not like anybody else." I raised my eyebrows as Kara spoke up.

"Oh, so having cancer gives you the right to hurl golf balls in any direction?" She asked getting to her feet and stomping over to Leo, "Causing potential head wounds on unsuspecting angelenos?" She asked, kicking the golf ball that was set up on the tee off.

"I'm just saying today's all about Jordi, and we need to be there for him." Leo said, turning around to look at Kara.

"Yeah, well, I have a stress test to worry about. Later, losers." Kara bid us goodbye and stomped off back into the hospital. I took another long sip of my coffee before getting to my feet.

"I have weigh in." Emma said, walking by Dash and Leo.

"And I have nothing better to do." I sighed out, "But _you_ have physical therapy." I said, gently jabbing the book into Leo's chest.

"I'm not going until Jordi wakes up." Leo shook his head. I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him a look.

"Fine." I said with a shrug, "But if Nurse Jackson comes after you, I'm throwing you under the bus."

"She's not even here!" Leo said as I walked by him, heading back into the hospital.

The couch cushions were soft against my ass, giving me the proper amount of support as I flipped through Henry the fifth. I had balanced my coffee cup just so I could sip at it while reading. Leo was next to me, kneeling on the couch and looking out the window. Dash was on the other couch, going through his Twitter feed.

"Check this out." Leo whispered, almost in awe. I looked out the window, sitting up a bit straighter to see the frat house that was across the street.

"Alpha Beta Ballsack, man." Dash grumbled out.

"Frats blow, Leo." I said, turning back to my book.

"Must be a game day." Leo was talking about the party that was happening. Dash came over and kneeled on the couch next to Dash.

"Yo, is it me or do they all look exactly the same? Same stupid hair, same stupid clothes. Looks like somebody 'roided up One Direction and mated them with zombies."

"I think it's more of a MTV look than a One Direction look." I said, glancing out the window at the similarly dressed boys.

"True." Dash nodded at me.

"I think that's kind of the point…You know, safety in numbers, pack mentality." Leo explained, "It's not the worst thing ever."

"Were you in a frat?" I asked, raising an eyebrow to Leo.

"Yo, man, you know I'm not calling you stupid, right?" Dash asked, glancing at our friend.

"Hey, I probably was, but whatever." Leo shrugged, "Yeah, I was in a frat." Leo looked down at me, "It doesn't matter anymore." I gave him a small smile.

"Well, from my experience, frat parties suck. I went to one on Halloween with a couple of friends and then never went back."

"What happened?" Dash asked.

"An Italian mobster." I mumbled out, shifting in my seat as Leo laughed at me.

"Leo Roth!" Nurse Jackson's voice called out. I looked to see her walking up to us, "You're late for physical therapy." Leo turned back around and flopped down on the arm of the couch, "Did you forget what floor it's on, because I'm happy to escort you."

"As soon as he's out, I'll go."

"That's not how this works." Nurse Jackson shook her head.

"I tried to tell him, but the young man does not have his listening ears on today." Dash threw Leo under the bus. I made a face and grinned to Leo. Nurse Jackson spotted me and I tried to hide the coffee behind the book, but it was too late.

"This is you helping?" Leo asked, "I would expect it from Elaine, since she told me, but…"

"Diverting attention." Dash said, sitting back down on his couch, "Strategy." Nurse Jackson yanked the coffee cup from my hand and I let out a whine as she gave me a look.

"Look, I know the new leg is uncomfortable-…" Nurse Jackson started. Leo laughed in response.

"It's more than uncomfortable. It _hurts_. I don't like walking in it." Leo shook his head.

"That's because you haven't had enough practice." Nurse Jackson explained, "Jordi's gonna be unconscious for the next few hours, so there's no point in you hanging around here."

"She's right." I sang out, flipping to the next page. I could feel Leo's eyes on my face, but I kept my eyes on the words.

"You need to be upstairs _now_."

"No, I need to be here." Leo said, sounding desperate, "Jordi's entire life is about to change, and I'm the only one who knows just how much and how bad it's gonna be, so I plan on being the first face he sees when his eyes open, because that was the deal we made." He finished strong. I looked up from my book; I had not heard about that deal. The boys must've made it in their room before they went to sleep.

"Okay?" Leo asked, voice a bit softer. Nurse Jackson looked at Leo before nodding to herself.

"I'm rescheduling you for five o'clock." Nurse Jackson said, pointing at Leo.

"Nurse Jackson-!"

"That's my final offer." Nurse Jackson turned around and walked off, waving a hand in the air.

"Tough love." Dash sighed out. I pulled my knees to my chest and shut my book over the bookmark. Leo got off of the arm of the couch and sat down next to me.

"He's gonna be okay, Leo." I said, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze before letting it go. Leo pulled out his phone to check the score of some local sports teams.

"You know, I may not know what it's like to lose a leg, but I know what it's like not to have a full heart." I softly said, "And yeah, it's not the same thing, I get that. But you think you're alone in this…that it's just you and Jordi who know what it's like. We all have our struggles, Leo." I said, getting him to look at me, "And we'll all help each other through them. You can't just generalize it and exclude me and Dash from it." Leo nodded at me.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean—"

"I know." I gave him a smile, "I'm worried about him too."

I got up off of the couch and went to sit by Dash, setting my heart monitor next to me. The three of us sat in silence in the common room, the hustle and bustle of the hospital going around us. I didn't have any appointments with doctors until later on in the week with the Single Ventricle Clinic, plus my Echo was already done after I was finished getting pizza to Charlie's room. Kara was supposed to be moving into my room tomorrow and I was already mentally and emotionally preparing myself.

"Hi!" Emma's voice said from above me. I looked up at the tiny girl as she threw a smile to Leo. Leo looked up and grinned at her.

"Hey." Emma looked at Leo, swaying a bit. I shared a look with Dash.

"Hey, Dash." I said. Dash straightened up and looked at me.

"Oh, hey, Elaine!" Dash said back, "How's life?"

"Good, good. What's up with you?"

"Nothing much, just chillin', livin'." I laughed at that and then looked to Emma who rolled her eyes and laughed at us.

"Hi, Dash. Hi, Elaine." Emma pointedly said. I raised my eyebrows.

"Oh, hi!"

"Hey, how are ya?" Dash asked back.

"So, is he still in surgery?" Emma asked, going over to sit next to Leo in my recently vacated seat.

"He is." Leo nodded, "No word yet." Emma sat next to Leo and pulled the sleeves of her cardigan over her hands.

"That's not the band I gave you last night." Leo pointed out.

"Yeah, um I…I lost the one that you gave me." Emma admitted, "It slipped off of my wrist."

"So, who gave you-?"

"Jordi." Emma cut Leo off.

"Damn!" Dash shouted out. I bowed him in the side as Leo and Emma looked at him.

"Oh. My bad. I mean damn." Dash went back to his phone. I grinned to myself, settling against the cushions and ready to get back to my book when Dr. McAndrew came up to us.

"Oh, good. You're all here." I shut my book and sat up a bit straighter.

"How did it go?" Leo asked as Emma asked,

"Is he okay?"

"Jordi's in recovery." Dr. McAndrew nodded, "He's good. He did, uh…He did real well." He looked at each of us.

"So, can we see him?" Leo asked.

"Uh, he's still under, so it shouldn't be too much longer." I nodded as Dr. McAndrew looked around the small group of us.

"Do you guys mind if I talk to Leo for a second in private?" I glanced to Leo and nodded, my stomach dropping slightly as I stood up, holding my heart monitor instead of putting it around my shoulders. Leo nodded at me and gave me a small smile as I walked away with Emma and Dash.

In a hospital, whenever a doctor wants to talk to you in private, it's never good news. I knew firsthand from when they told me my liver was failing. Not good.

"How'd your weigh in go?" I asked, throwing an arm around Emma's tiny frame as we walked away from Leo and Dr. McHottie.

"I gained a pound." Emma nodded. I gave her a _yeah right_ look. Emma's face fell.

"Don't be mad." She quietly said.

"What was it this time?" I asked, "A roll of quarters?" Emma was silent. "Emma, I know you don't want to be in here, but you can't lie your way out." I stopped walking and turned her so she was facing me, "Cause out there, it sucks and if you aren't at your peak, then you'll fall even harder than you did the first time."

"I can't do it, Elaine. I'm not like you." Emma shook her head. I gave her a small smile.

"I don't want you to be like me. I want you to be like _you_." Emma looked up at me and gave me a small smile in return.

"Now, where'd you get that hat from?" I asked, taking it off of her head and placing it on mine as we began walking again. "Whatta think?" I asked, pretending to model it. Emma laughed and reached to try and swipe it off of my head. I handed it back to her with a laugh.

"So Jordi gave you the bracelet…" I started, tapping at Emma's wrist. Emma blushed and looked down at the floor.

"Do you like him?" I asked, waggling my eyebrows. Emma was quiet as we got to her room. "Okay, okay." I put my hands up, giving up, "I think it's cute though." I said with a wink. I waggled my fingers at Emma before continuing down to the service elevator.

I walked down the hall, passing by the whiteboard where Brittany's positive message of the day was written. I passed Charlie—and Kara's room, only to stop when I saw that Kara's bed was empty except for two older women sitting on the edge.

"Uh, hi…?" I asked, leaning into the doorframe. Both women looked up at me, "Do you know where Kara is?"

"She stepped out." The woman with the ponytail said. "Are you one of her friends?" I squinted an eye and looked at the woman.

"Mmmm, not really." I said, "She just…" I trailed off as I looked in between the two women, "Are you her Mom?" I asked, realizing that neither of the women looked like the woman I saw with Kara yesterday.

"I am." The one with the ponytail said, pressing a hand to her chest, "This is my partner, Daniela." I felt my eyebrows rise.

"Oh." I softly said, "Two moms." I nodded to them, "Neither one of you were here yesterday though."

"We were vacationing in Cabo." Daniela gave me a small smile, "We flew back as soon as we heard."

"Right. Well, it was nice meeting you." I said, knocking on the doorframe, "I'll, uh, find Kara by myself."

"Oh, look, she has one of those fancy heart monitor things like Kara." Kara's actual mom said, nudging Daniela.

"She also has a name." I said making a face and pulling my shoulders. "It's Elaine, if you're wondering."

"Elaine." Kara's mom gasped out, sounding so impressed by my name. "Such a pretty name."

"Yeah, thanks. My mom gave it to me for my birthday." I said.

"And she's funny!" Kara's mom nudged Daniela again. Daniela gave me a small, embarrassed smile.

"Kay, I gotta go." I quickly raised my eyebrows at her before pushing off the doorframe. "Bye!" I left the Tiger Moms and went down the hall towards the service elevators to get back to my room.

"Elaine!" Leo's voice sounded strained as he called out. I whirled around to see him hobbling down to meet me. He looked messed up.

"What's the matter?" I asked, hurrying to meet him half way, "Leo? Hey? Is it Jordi? Did something happen?"

"Jordi got to keep his leg." Leo said, "He got to keep his leg!" His voice broke. I stared at him for a moment before wrapping my arms around him and hugging him close.

"I have to go tell Emma." Leo said, pulling away from me, "Emma needs to know." He pushed away from me and started to hobble away from me.

"Leo!" I called after him, "Leo, wait." I said, ready to go after him, but he was fast on those crutches, getting away from me.

_**A/N: Holy shit. Yous amaze me. Honestly, I wasn't expecting so much feedback, which prompted this update to be so quick! I really loved last night's episode and I can't wait for you to all read the next part of this episode because I have many ideas...Thank you for favoriting/following this story and serious thanks to all those who reviewed: peace486, Emilee, KaelynnClaree, RedBandGal (Eleo? I like it!) Guest, Tinkabadink, RHatch89, SheebaDiva, c-bellz, dearlyfantastical5511, nikki, and trunkmonkey! You guys continue to amaze me, and I'd love to hear your thoughts/predictions! xxx**_


	4. Chapter 4

I was on Leo's bed, flipping through the recent Us Weekly as I waited for Leo to come back. He had to come back, eventually. I was prepared to wait the rest of the night for him. Even though I knew where he had gone, I wanted to give him and Emma some time; they were closer than we were, which made sense. So I was content reading about the new royal baby.

Leo's crutches clacked against the floor as he came into the room. I looked up from my magazine, shutting it and swinging my legs around the edge of the bed as Leo went to the floor, getting the case that housed his fake leg.

"So I'm guessing the talk with Emma didn't go well." I said, making a face. Leo didn't respond, just clicked open the locks on his case. "Hey, what are you doing?" I asked, getting off the bed.

"What's going on?" Dash asked as he came into the room.

"Beats me." I shrugged.

"I'm out of here." Leo responded, pulling the leg out of the case.

"Where to?" Dash asked.

"Somewhere normal, a place where I can just be like everybody else." Leo explained, starting to put the leg on.

"Not without me, man. Look, I'm gonna get changed real quick." Dash said before running out of the room. I stood above Leo, silent for a moment before Leo looked over his shoulder at me.

"You coming?" He asked as he strapped on the leg. I debated with myself for a quick moment before nodding.

"Yeah. Yes. Let me just get changed." I said, backing out of the room. Leo watched me with a nod before I turned and ran down the hall.

"Elaine! No running!" Brittany shouted after me as I got to the service elevator. I impatiently tapped my foot against the floor as I waited for the elevator.

And when I got to my room, I pulled off my hoodie, gasping a bit as some of my wires were pulled tight. I pulled on a nicer shirt, one with bigger arm holes so my lacy bra was showing, but none of the stickers and a pair of ripped up shorts. I grabbed a hat and quickly looked at myself in the mirror, touching up the dark circles and putting on some sort of lipstick. I needed to _look _normal. The heart monitor went into a small purse I had, which went on my shoulder. I took one last look at myself before hurrying out of my room.

Sneaking out of the hospital was a piece of cake; the boys and I had done it countless of times. We just lied about where we were going to any of the nurses that asked. Only a couple of them did, so it was a good day.

"Where are we going again?" I asked, taking in a deep breath as I steadied Leo. Dash was on the other side of Leo, both of us helping him walk.

"Somewhere where everyone will be drunk enough that they won't know we aren't normal." Leo responded.

"Oh, so the county jail." I answered back. Dash barked out a laugh as we waited to cross the street. The frat house looming across from us.

I could hear the music thumping through the house as we got to the front yard. There were people milling around, laughing and dancing and drinking and I was pretty sure I smelled weed. Blue cups were littered along the lawn along with some blow up ornaments. I helped Dash help Leo up the front stairs, getting to the porch where there were even more people.

"You know, how sometimes things are better in theory than they are in practice?" Leo asked as we took in the amount of people and booze.

"This is not one of those times." Dash answered for Leo before patting his chest and walking into the house. I struggled to hold up Leo and he helped me out by grabbing onto the railing.

"Let's go see if this is any better than Halloween." I said, throwing a grin at Leo. Leo returned it before limping up the rest of the stairs and into the house.

"Good evening!" A voice boasted as soon as Leo and I walked in the door. He handed Leo a blue plastic cup and then handed me one as well.

"Do you have any water?" I asked, shouting a bit in order to be heard over the music.

"What?" The football player asked back.

"Water! You know? It falls from the sky and when it's cold it looks like snow!" I shouted. I heard Leo snort and start to cough.

"Oh, we got ourselves a joker over here!" The guy said, pointing to me and then looking at the crowd.

"Hey, Kyle, lay off." A different guy said, coming up and laying a hand on Kyle's chest, "The lady wants some water, the lady will get some water. You gotta be respectful." He looked back at me, "I'm Sean, by the way."

"Hey, Sean. I'm Elaine." I took my arm off of Leo to shake Sean's hand.

"Come on, I'll get you some water." Sean nodded towards the hallway. I glanced at Leo.

"You good if I go?" I asked. Leo nodded and waved me away from him.

"Go! Have fun!" I nodded at him, smiling a bit.

"You too." I said before feeling Sean take my hand. I looked down and then back up to see him give me a little smile. I looked over my shoulder and made a face at Leo before following Sean down the hall.

"One water for the pretty girl." Sean said, handing me a small water bottle.

"Thank you." I said with a smile as I sat on the counter. Sean stood next to me as I cracked the water bottle open.

"So that kid you were with…is he your boyfriend?" Sean asked. I started choking on my water, I was so surprised. Sean raised his eyebrows at me as I recovered.

"Uh, no, no he's just a friend." I shook my head.

"Oh, that's cool." Sean nodded at me as I took another, more controlled, sip of my water.

"I don't have a boyfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Sean asked. I shook my head.

"Nope."

"Cool." Sean paused, "So, uh, where do you go to school?" He asked after a moment.

"I, uh…I don't." I said. Sean opened his mouth to ask another question, but Dash came into the kitchen, stumbling a bit.

"Dash?" I asked, getting off of the counter, holding my purse so my wires didn't pull. "Hey, Dash?" I went up to him and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Have you see Leo?" He mumbled a bit.

"Yeah, just a bit ago. He was in the main hall." I said. Dash turned away from me, "Dash, hey, is everything okay?"

"Emma texted." Dash turned back to me, "Nurse Jackson is on the hunt."

"Oh shit."

"Is everything okay?" Sean asked, coming up to us.

"Yeah…yeah we're okay." I said, looking back at Sean, "Hey, Dash, start looking for Leo." I turned back to Dash, "I'll be right behind you." I nodded at Dash, who nodded back and started walking away. I watched him go around the corner before turning back to Sean.

"I should probably go." I said, giving Sean a small smile, "Thanks for the water." I lifted the bottle at Sean before turning away.

"Hey, Elaine, wait." Sean made me turn around, "Could I, uh, ah..." He put his fist to his forehead, "Could I call you sometime?" I gave him a small smile and stepped up to him, placing my hand against his cheek and pressing my lips against his. I kissed him for a moment before pulling back.

Sean leaned forward again, and I couldn't help but close the space again. His hand went to my hip, going up my shirt as he gently pushed me back. I felt the wall behind me as his hand went to my lacey bra. I let my mouth go down to his neck as my arms went around his neck, before dragging my mouth back up to meet his. His mouth dragged up, nose rubbing against mine before he went back to kissing me. His hands were exploring around my skin. Then he hit a sticker, his fingers dancing around the button. My heart rate spiked as I took in sharp breath and he pulled away.

"What is this?" He asked, fingers running down the wire, going to where it connected with all the others, "Is this some sort of joke?"

"No!" I gasped out, "No." He tugged at the wire. I winced.

"Are you—are you like a robot?" He yanked hard, pulling the sticker off of my side. A cry of pain escaped my mouth as I shoved him away.

"I'm not a robot, you douchecanoe. I'm a human being!" I yelled at him, launching my water bottle at him. Sean dodged it easily. His eyes were wide as they roved my body.

"Why—why do you have wires coming out of you?" He asked, pointing at me.

"Because life fucking sucks." I threw my hands up in the air, "And I came here to have fun with my friends and they _ditched _me and I met you and I thought you were nice and then you called me a robot!" I was babbling. "A _robot_." I whispered to myself. I looked at him before straightening out my shirt and flipping my hair over my shoulder.

"What happened to treating girls with respect?" I asked. Sean was quiet. I pushed off the wall and stepped around the corner, shoving through a crowd in order to get to some sort of exit. A bedroom door opened and a blonde girl came out of it.

"Elaine!" I heard Sean's voice yell out. The girl looked up at me when she heard my name.

"_You're _Elaine?!" She spat out. I had only opened my mouth to respond when the girl's hand connected with my face. She slapped me so hard, my head snapped to the side and I thought I blacked out for a moment.

"What the hell!?" I cried out, holding my face as the girl threw her drink at me. I gasped and sputtered out jungle juice as she shoved by me, "I don't even know you!" I yelled after her as she stomped by me. I flicked my hands off, getting the juice off before I glanced in the room to see Leo on the ground, holding onto the bed post. Ah.

Grumbling to myself, I pushed the door open, stepping inside before closing it behind me. "Your friend slapped me so hard, I actually saw stars." I said, walking over to him.

"She wasn't a friend." Leo whispered as I sat down next to him. He glanced at me and I saw that he had tears in his eyes.

"What happened?" I asked as Leo rested his head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders, pulling him close as he buried his face into my shoulder, starting to cry.

"I messed up, Elaine."

"No you didn't." I said instantly. I had never seen Leo cry. Ever. And it made me nervous and upset. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I called her a slut." Leo mumbled.

"Was she being slutty?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"….Yeah." Leo answered. "She tried to get into my pants." I snorted.

"Leo Roth, you stopped a girl from getting into your pants? Who are you?" I asked. Leo picked up his head and gave me a small smile.

"Are you crying?" He asked. I picked up the wire Sean pulled off.

"Some asshole yanked this off and called me a robot." I said, twirling the wire in the air. "And then I got doused with jungle juice and I think my heart monitor is fucked up now."

"Elaine…" Leo started, "Do you want me to go beat him up? I should go beat him up."

"I don't think you're going much of anywhere." I said, giving him a smile. Leo returned it.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Elaine. I didn't mean for you to get hurt." Leo whispered, looking down at the ground.

"It's okay." I softly said, "At least this time there wasn't an Italian mobster." I joked, getting a laugh out of Leo.

We stayed on the floor in silence as the party went on outside of the room. Leo had laid down, resting his head in my lap as I ran my hand down his hat covered head, petting him. He didn't protest. I had made a mistake in coming here. Sean was a massive jerk and I hated myself for trusting the boy so easily. And since the wire was ripped off, the heart monitor shut off as well, which would cause some trouble for me later on.

The bedroom door opened, making me look up. Brittany and Dash were standing in the doorway. Brittany had Leo's crutches and instantly came over to us.

"Leo, bub, time to get up." I said, picking up Leo's head.

"Dash." Brittany said, "Now, Dash!" She said a bit more forcefully when it became clear that Dash wasn't moving. I got to my knees, undoing Leo's fake leg as Brittany and Dash helped Leo get under the crutches.

Sean was outside the room with a blue cup, talking to some other guys. When he saw us come out, I lifted Leo's leg and gave him a small smile. Sean quickly looked away, down into his cup as if that would give him all the answers. I followed the others out of the house and we started back to the hospital.

If there was one thing I loved about Brittany is that she knew when to shut up. We walked back in silence, got on the elevator and back to Leo's floor in silence. Which I hated and loved.

Then we passed by Nurse Jackson's desk. She put down the phone she was holding at stared at us as we went by. I gave her an embarrassed smile before looking down at my feet.

"They were at the coffee shop down the street. I tried to tell them that caffeine would stunt their growth, plus with Elaine's heart, but you know kids." Brittany covered for us, "They just don't listen." I went into Leo's room as Nurse Jackson called Brittany back. I put the leg back into the case and shut it tight.

"I'll, uh…I'll come back down in a little." I said, giving Leo a small smile. He just nodded at me as I backed out of the room.

There was a packet of makeup wipes sitting on my dresser. I picked up the package, ripping open the top and started to take off my makeup. I watched the normal looking girl disappear and the hospital one return. The pale and sickly one, with bags under her eyes. My heart monitor was on top of the dresser. I crumpled up the wipe and threw it away, pulling off my shirt to look at myself.

There was a knock at the door and I turned to see that it was Brittany. She gave me a small smile as she stepped into the room.

"Hey." I said as I started to yank off the rest of the wires. Brittany came over to me and started to help, being more gentle than both Sean and I had been.

"Thank you." I said as she went around my body, "For not ratting us out." I said, "Or lecturing us." I added on.

"I know that you guys just want to be normal." Brittany said, "I don't even know how hard it must be for you guys to be stuck in here. But I get it." Brittany tugged off the last sticker, "Just try not to do it again."

"I swear. I've had enough frats to last me a lifetime." I said, making a cross in the air with my hand.

"We'll get you a new one of these in the morning." Brittany lifted my heart monitor.

"And you can take my blood." I offered, "I swear, I didn't have anything to drink. I didn't smoke or anything." I started to defend myself.

"I know. I knew from the moment I walked into the bedroom." Brittany said, holding the heart monitor in her hands, "Proud of you." She gave me one of her peppy grins and wrapped her arms around me. I stumbled, a bit taken aback.

"So you don't have to tell my parents about the frat?"

"Frat? I found you at the coffee shop." Brittany said with a knowing smile.

"Right." I nodded and smiled a bit.

"I'll get you some baby oil to get rid of those red marks." Brittany said, pointing to the red circles that were scattered around my skin from irritation of the stickers.

"Thanks." I said, "Is it okay if I go visit Leo?" I asked. Brittany nodded. I pulled on my shirt and walked past her, going down to the service elevator.

Leo was sitting on his bed when I got there. He gave me a small smile as I walked in. "Hey, where's your monitor?"

"They have to get me a new one since jungle juice was spilled on it and one of the wires was ripped off." I sighed, going over to his bed.

"Jungle juice?" Leo asked, "Is that what I had?"

"Yeah." I nodded, "Your friend threw her drink all over me." I said, pointing to the ends of my hair as I sat on the edge of the bed.

"Her name was Elise." Leo said. "I think I have a type." His brow furrowed.

"Oh really?" I asked, eyebrows raising. "And what would that be?"

"Girls with names that begin with E." Leo mumbled, "I mean, cause, Emma and Elise and you. Elaine."

"Yes, that's my name." I said, stomach beginning to twist up. I knew he was still drunk, so everything he was saying was just nonsense. Leo looked at me and gave me a small smile before leaning forward to kiss me. I leaned back.

"Leo…"

"Sorry. That was—that was stupid." Leo shook his head and looked away. "So stupid."

"Have you seen Jordi?" I asked, changing the subject as I tried to calm my heart down. Leo was silent for a moment.

"Why don't you want to kiss me?" Leo asked, looking back at me. I closed my eyes and looked away from him.

"You're drunk. You're drunk." I whispered over and over.

"I said your name instead of hers when we were making out." Leo admitted. I opened my eyes and stared at him. Then he leaned forward again; this time I didn't stop him.

His lips were gentle as they pressed against mine. I closed my eyes and softly kissed him back. It was awkward at first, our teeth clicking together, almost like our first kiss together. But I leaned into him, placing my hand on his chest and pushing him back against the pillows as I kissed him again. I broke away to get a breath and his hands came up to my face, pulling me back to him.

"No, no." I said, pulling away, "Shit, no. Leo." I said, taking my hand off of his chest, "I can't believe I just did that." I whispered to myself. I slid off the bed and wrapped my arms around my stomach, leaving Leo's room.

"Lane, wait!" Leo called after me.

_**A/N: *GASP* As usual, the amount of support and feedback blows me away. I am so happy all of you love this story. Thank you for favoriting and following and big thanks to my reviewers: SheebaDiva, RHatch89, glowgreen4me, RedBandGal, Emilee (I actually picture Ash Benson as Elaine), bezerker-xxx, peakeboo278, cutie pie, Owl Glow, SplendiferousBowties, Guest, RebelRep, hella-sirius, Nnjjd hgc, karrie binkers, Guest, carebearlove, Guest, artamisser. You guys rock my socks always and forever! Let me know your thoughts! xxx**_


	5. Chapter 5

_"What do you mean you've never had your first kiss?" Leo asked, grinning at me. He found it funny, I found it embarrassing._

_"I think it's pretty self-explanatory." I said, giving a little groan laugh._

_"So there hasn't been one boyfriend? Or one hook-up?" Leo asked as the service elevator opened up. I rolled my IV into it, Leo crutching in behind me._

_"Nope." I said, shaking my head, "Though I had a lot of hopeless crushes. Unrequited love sucks." I said, making a face. I turned to face the front of the elevator as the door came down. _

_"Wow." Leo whispered._

_"What?" I asked back, looking over to him. Leo shifted on his crutches, turning to face me and coming a bit closer. _

_"Just surprised." He shrugged, "You don't look like the type to not be kissed."_

_"Oh because I'm blonde?" I asked, brow furrowing. "Stereotype much?"_

_"No, because you're really pretty. And funny. And smart." Leo rambled. I grinned at him._

_"Keep going…" I prompted, moving my hand around a bit. Leo laughed and shook his head, looking down._

_"I'm just saying that a lot of guys missed out."_

_"And now I'm stuck here." I blew out a breath._

_"Hey, so am I." Leo pointed to himself._

_"Well, at least it's good company." I said with a grin. Leo smiled at me and then licked his lips, looking down._

_"Hey, Lane." He started, looking up, "Can I kiss you?" _

_"What? Why?" I asked, glancing at him. Leo shifted on his crutches, trying to get comfortable._

_"Because it'd be cool to be someone's first kiss." Leo shrugged._

_"Oh, so only for your gain." I said, making a face. _

_"No!" Leo quickly back tracked, "No…I mean, yeah, but I'm your friend and when you actually kiss someone, I don't want it to be weird and awkward."_

_"Who the hell am I going to be kissing in this place?" I asked, laughing a bit._

_"You keep talking about Dr. McAndrew." Leo shrugged. _

_"You're ridiculous." I sighed out, rolling my eyes. I glanced to Leo and then let out another sigh. Then I turned back to the line of buttons on the elevator. I pressed the stop button, jolting the elevator to a stop. _

_"Fine. Kiss me." I said, turning to Leo. _

I wrapped my cardigan around me, pushing the IV down the hall as I looked for Leo. The morning, I had been given an IV to get my water bottles into my without forcing me to drink. It sucked a little, but it wasn't something I wasn't used to. After I ran out on Leo, I went back to my room and promptly fell into bed, crying myself to sleep and thanking the high heavens that Kara hadn't moved in yet. She would've given me so much shit.

Speaking of Kara, she was supposed to move in today after her drug test. I hadn't seen her all morning though. I hadn't seen much of anyone this morning. Probably because Leo had physical therapy, Dash was out wandering, Emma was watching over Jordi so he didn't wake up alone and then Charlie was in his bed, as usual.

Dash was ripsticking down the hall, stopping in front of me, "Yo, what's up, Lane?" He asked, stepping off the board.

"Just trying to find Leo. Is he out of PT yet?" I asked. Dash sighed and looked away from me.

"Yeah, but he went to go visit _Jordi_." Dash complained, "We were supposed to go get a hook-up from the glaucoma dude, but I guess _that's_ not happening."

"I'm sorry, Dash. I'd go with you, but I have—"

"To talk to Leo." Dash cut me off. I gave him a small smile, "About your little make-out sesh?" He continued.

"He told you?" I asked, a little thrown off.

"Yeah, we talked about it before his PT." Dash raised his hand in the air only to let it drop a moment later.

"Oh…well what did he say?" I asked, trying to play it cool and act nonchalant. Dash looked away from me, pulling in his lips and shaking his head.

"Dude, I don't think I should tell you."

"Now that sounds bad." I said, gripping my IV a little tighter, "Dash, _what_ did he _say_?" Dash stared at me for a second before sighing.

"That he was drunk and it didn't mean anything." Dash finally admitted. I felt my eyebrows raise a bit.

"Oh." I paused, "Oh, right. Of course he said that." I blinked, shaking my head and looking down, "Yeah, that's what I was gonna say." I looked back up at Dash, forcing a smile, "Totally on point." Dash gave me an uneasy look, "Gotta go." I said, pushing the IV away from me and following after it, going back to my room.

I wanted to puke everywhere. It didn't mean anything to him. The kiss didn't mean anything to him. I was going to be sick. I knew kissing him was a bad idea, but my brain was overtaken by my heart that was like _don't worry! You won't get hurt! _Stupid heart.

Dr. McAndrew was walking down the hall as I walked back to my room. I gave him a tight smile and then noticed his tie. Navy blue. Sex tie. My forced smile turned into a real one as Dr. McAndrew got closer to me.

"Nice tie." I said, smirking a little.

"It's just a tie!" Dr. McAndrew groaned as he walked by me. I looked over my shoulder and watched his ass for a moment before turning and grinning to myself. I gripped the IV a bit tighter as I started to run down the hall, pulling it next to me.

"Britt!" I gasped out, getting to the nurses station.

"Elaine! No _running_!" She hissed out, eyebrows furrowing.

"Dr. McAndrew is wearing his _navy_ _tie_." I said, eyes going wide as I flattened my hands on her desk, "Do you know what this means?" I whispered out. Brittany gave me a look before leaning forward.

"Do you think it was just some random hookup or that he's got himself a girlfriend?" Brittany asked. I grinned at her.

"Def some random one night stand." I said before turning so my back was against the desk, elbows planted on it. "God, what I would give to be his random one night stand." I sighed out. Brittany snorted.

"Oh, honey, no." She shook her head, "Trust me, one night stands just leave you feeling empty and alone."

"But he's so _hot_." I whined out, rolling back and practically laying on the desk. Brittany gave me an amused smile.

"Don't you have to be somewhere with Nurse Jackson?" Brittany asked, tapping her pen against her teeth. I rolled my eyes and pushed away.

"I was ready to skip it for a quality gossip session." I grumbled before straightening out my cardigan. Brittany smiled at me and then pointed down the hall with her pen. I made a face and pushed the IV down the hall, going to the service elevators. I passed by the Swamp and heard Leo's voice,

"We broke up a little while ago, but it's still kind of still kind of unfinished." Leo was talking about Emma. I looked into the room to see Jordi on the bed, Leo on his with a basketball. Jordi nodded and I continued to stare at Leo, not hearing Jordi's response. Leo was still crushing on Emma. I was just some rebound hook-up. But I still had my dignity, so I pulled my lips in as Leo looked out the window, noticing me. He lifted his hand up in a semi-wave, but I looked away from the window, walking down the hall.

"Good morning, Elaine." Nurse Jackson said as I walked into my room. There was another bed in my room and a new heart monitor on my bed.

"Kara's moving in." I stated, going over to my bed.

"Later today most likely." Nurse Jackson let out a sigh, "That girl…"

"Tell me no more, I already know." I said, lifting a hand up. Nurse Jackson smiled at me as I got onto my bed.

"Maybe you can bring out some sort of human emotion besides rage from her."

"She opened up to me the other day." I said, pulling off my cardigan and shirt, "I don't know what happened." Nurse Jackson stepped up to me, getting the heart monitor ready.

"Try not to spill jungle juice on this one." She said before sticking the first sticker on me.

"Whaaaa?" I acted innocent. Nurse Jackson gave me a look, I slumped forward and let out a sigh.

"Last night was just one giant mistake." I said, sitting back up as Nurse Jackson put on more stickers.

"Are you including your kiss with Leo?" Nurse Jackson asked, making my breath catch in my throat. Nurse Jackson glanced at me, "He told me about it."

"It was nothing." I said as Nurse Jackson started to attach the buttons, "He was drunk, it was…a mistake." I finally said, knowing I was lying to her and myself.

"It's dangerous to get into relationships when you're in the hospital." Nurse Jackson said, "You'll both end up hurt."

"I'm not gonna get into a relationship, Nurse Jackson." I scoffed, rolling my eyes upward, "I don't even _like_ anyone here." I shook my head. Nurse Jackson gave me a knowing look. "I'm not!" I cried out, lifting my shoulders as Nurse Jackson snapped another button on.

I looked away from her, staring at the picture on my dresser of me and Leo. Leo had the same one tacked up on his ceiling. It was from when my sister came to visit; I had on one of Leo's baseball caps and Leo was making some sort of face.

Nurse Jackson undid my IV, since the bag was empty. I pulled on my shirt and I put the strap around my shoulder, laying it across my chest. I shifted the wires around, getting comfortable again. Then I pulled on my cardigan, jumping off of my bed. Nurse Jackson rolled my IV out of the room, and I followed, ready to get to the cafeteria to get some food.

Dash was sitting at a table by himself with a bowl of fruit and a couple of breakfast items. I grabbed a muffin and a bowl of fruit, setting them on my tray before getting a cup of coffee. I looked around myself, making sure there were no nurses watching me as I added the milk and sugar. The coast was clear as I made my way over to Dash.

"Hey." I said, giving him a small smile. Dash looked up at me and gave me a two finger wave.

"Yo." I sat down across from him and started to unwrap my muffin, "Talk to Leo?" He asked.

"Mmm, no." I said, biting into the muffin, "I haven't seen him."

"Are you avoiding him or somethin'?" Dash asked, stabbing at his fruit.

"No!" I quickly said, "I'm not avoiding him. Why would I be avoiding him? It's not like he kissed me and then I ran out because I was too embarrassed…or anything." I gulped and then let out a little cough. "Why? Have you talked to him?" I asked, setting down my muffin and then making a face, "Not like I want to know or anything."

"Who are you today?" Dash asked, "Did they give you some new drug?"

"No, God, no." I laughed, shaking my head, "It's just this whole thing with Leo has me messed up. And I don't know where we are or what's gonna happen—"

"Leo wants to get back with Emma." Dash cut me off. My eyebrows shot up and my jaw dropped a bit.

"He wants…to get back…with Emma." I stated, voice quiet. Dash stared at me, chewing on his bottom lip as he looked at his tray of food.

"Sorry to pull you back down to Earth, sister from another mister." Dash said.

"It's fine." I waved my hand in the air, trying to play it off, "It's not like I thought we were gonna go anywhere. It was just a kiss."

"Yeah." Dash nodded as I set down my coffee cup, fingers going to Leo's red band. I spun it around my wrist as I tried to calm my heart, not wanting to bring attention to myself with a beeping monitor.

_**A/N: Sadness. There will be much more sadness next chapter. Trust me. This show continues to play with my emotions and I cry. BUT thank you so much for favoriting and following this story. Shoutouts to those who reviewed: RHatch89, FinalFantasyCrazedGirl01, TalonNight, SheebaDiva, hella-sirius, peakeaboo278, glowgreen4me, beath1234, RealWinchesterGirl95, Emilee, BrennaKnowsBest, **_**_chibi-no-baka, toxic, Guest, IloveTeamSmith, SplendiferousBowties, XxMikealsonForeverxX! You guys are seriously the best. _**


	6. Chapter 6

Jordi was the only one in the Swamp as I passed by. I leaned against the doorframe and knocked once, getting his attention away from the monitor.

"Hey." I said, giving him a small smile and stepping into the room.

"Hey, Elaine." Jordi gave me a real smile back as I walked over to his bed, "What's up?"

"Nothing." I shrugged, "Just coming to check on you." I looked to the monitor where pictures of his leg were being displayed. "That your cancer?" I asked. Jordi nodded and let out a breath.

"Yeah. Fun stuff, huh?" He asked, glancing back at me. I made a face and nodded. My hands were clasped in front of me as I rocked back and forth.

"So how are you feeling?" I asked, making a face as I sat on the edge of his bed.

"Good." Jordi nodded.

"Is your family coming?" I asked, glancing over to him. Jordi shifted against the pillows, "I mean, my sister didn't want to get out of here after my surgery. I think Nurse Jackson had to like call security or something." I laughed to myself.

"Uh, no, my Grandmom doesn't really believe that I have cancer and I don't even know my dad." Jordi said with a shake of his head.

"What about your mom?" I asked.

"She passed away about a year ago." Jordi quietly said. I felt my eyebrows raise.

"Oh shit, my bad." I whispered, turning away from him, "Shit, I had no idea."

"It's not really something I like to share." Jordi explained.

"No, yeah, I get it." I blinked a bit and then looked back at him, "I'm sorry." Jordi nodded at me.

"Thanks." I nodded back at him, the conversation ending since there was nowhere else to go. I looked at my hands, running my fingers around my palms.

"Hey, Elaine?" Jordi asked, making me look up, "What's the deal with Emma and Leo?"

"Whatta mean?" I asked back, brow furrowing, "There's nothing there. They broke up."

"Right, but Leo said—"

"They broke up." I cut Jordi off, "And if you like Emma, then you should go for it." I said.

"Really?" Jordi asked, "I mean, I don't know because Leo—"

"Leo had his chance, Jordi." I said, shaking my head. I wanted Jordi to get with Emma. Emma already liked him and Jordi was starting to, there was something there between them. Leo be damned.

"I mean, I like Emma." Jordi shrugged, "Leo said that things were unfinished between them though."

"That's because Leo…Leo…" I started to speak and then stopped, not knowing where I was going with my words, "Don't worry about Leo." I finally settled on, patting Jordi's arm, "Come on." I got out of bed and helped Jordi sit up, "Let's go find Emma and talk to her." I rolled his wheelchair around and helped Jordi get into it.

"You're good at this, you know?" Jordi said, looking at me.

"Helped Leo a couple of times." I said, shrugging a bit before pushing the chair forward. Jordi laughed a little.

"Have you talked to him? He told me about last night."

"Jesus! Does the whole hospital know?!" I cried out as I pushed Jordi through the door. "This is gonna be the gossip for the next three months." Jordi laughed again.

"I mean, I just heard that he kissed you."

"Right." I nodded and let out a breath, "Well, that's all that happened. And apparently it was a mistake." I said, "According to him."

"I don't think kisses can be mistakes." Jordi said.

"Right?!" I agreed with Jordi, "Ugh. I just don't understand how-"

"Mom?" Jordi asked, cutting me off as we got to the nurses' station. I looked to where Jordi was looking. There was a woman, who didn't look a day over twenty, standing with Dr. McAndrew.

"_Mom_?! What do you mean _mom_?!" I sputtered out as the woman's face lit up. I let go of Jordi's wheelchair, letting him roll over to the woman.

"Jo-Jo." The woman went over to Jordi and hugged him tightly. My eyes met with Dash's and I raised my eyebrows, walking behind Jordi to get to Dash.

"Is this some sort of joke? Are we being Punk'd?" I whispered out as Jordi's mom talked to Jordi.

"I have no idea, dude. This is some twisted shit."

"I know nothing. Nobody tells me anything. Your abuela calls out of the blue and says something's wrong with your leg and would I check on you." Jordi's mom chattered before looking at Dr. McAndrew, "Why didn't anyone here call me?"

"'Cause you're dead." Brittany spoke up, getting the woman's attention. Her jaw opened a bit to retort and state the obvious.

"Uh, we were -We were under the impression that you had passed away, Eva." Dr. McAndrew stepped in. Jordi's mom, or Eva as Dr. McAndrew called her, did _not _look happy as she bent down to curse at Jordi in Spanish.

"You told them I was dead?" She hissed out. I glanced at Dash, shifting my stance against the counter.

"What I meant was…She's dead to me." Jordi dramatically said. I let out a snort and then groaned,

"Ah, Dios mío." I mumbled out before turning away, "Come on, Dash. This is one family reunion I do _not _want to stick around for." I said. Dash mumbled his agreement.

"Since when do you speak Spanish?" Dash asked as we walked away from Jordi's telenovela. I ignored Dash.

"I can't believe he lied to us." I said, shaking my head, "About not having any family." I added on, "I mean, cause we lie all the time, but it's for good reason." I glanced to Dash, who nodded.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we walked down the hall, Dash rolling his IV next to him.

"To find Leo." Dash said, "We gotta tell him his new BFF is a two faced _liar_." Dash said.

"Great." I whispered out, realizing this would be the first I'd talk to Leo since the kiss. Dash and I walked in silence until we saw Leo rolling out of the double doors, a pan on his lap.

"Yo, man, I'm about to drop some serious knowledge, all right?" Dash started, walking up to Leo, "Prepare your jaw to slack."

"Well, I can't talk now. I'm on a mission for Emma." Leo tried to go around Dash, but Dash stopped him. I was against the wall, leaning with my back against it, arms crossed over my chest.

"Look, yo, Julia Child can wait, man."

"Who's that?" Leo looked confused.

"Only the sickest lady chef in history." Dash explained.

"Haven't you ever seen _Julie and Julia_?" I asked, leaning forward a bit.

"Whatever. I'm sort of a foodie, but look, we have a situation, all right? Your new friend Jordi, your, uh, spirit animal, your brother from another mother?" Dash waved me off.

"Yeah, what about him?" Leo asked.

"Turns out he's a two-faced, two-legged lying _sack_." Dash rolled forward on his feet. I watched Leo's reaction.

"What the hell are you talking about, Dash?"

"Jordi's mom is _alive_." Dash dropped the bomb on Leo.

"Wait, what?" Leo's eyebrows furrowed as he looked from Dash to me, "Did you know about this?"

"Just found out." I said.

"Well, we have to tell Emma." Leo said, rolling forward.

"Of course we do." Dash sighed out, letting his head lull back as Leo rolled down the hall towards the service elevators.

The ride up to Emma's room was silent. I stood in between the boys, feeling Leo's eyes on me. I stared straight ahead, not making eye contact with him. There wasn't anything to say to Leo; he made his mind up, he wanted Emma back. Not me. His kiss with me was a "mistake."

"What do you mean Jordi's mom isn't dead?" Emma asked when Dash told her. I was sitting on her desk chair, watching as she paced a little, "How do you know?"

"Because I saw her, live and in the flesh. Good flesh, if I might add. She's taut, tan. Oh, man, she's going in the bank." Dash let out a low whistle. I rolled my eyes.

"I saw her too." I piped up, rolling forward on Emma's desk chair, "And she totally didn't _look_ like a mom, but they looked related."

"The thing I don't get is why? Why would he lie about something like that?" Leo asked, looking around at us.

"Because he's a Ponzi-scheming decepticon. I mean, who knows what else he's lying about? You know, does he even have cancer? Is that his real hair?" Dash went off. I laughed at him.

"It's so sad." Emma spoke quietly, getting everyone's attention.

"Come again?" Dash asked.

"Well, the whole thing. It's tragic." Emma looked at us, "How awful must Jordi's home life be for him to feel the need to lie about something like this? And can you imagine how mortified he must be now that everyone knows the truth?" I felt my brow furrow.

"Dude, she's right." Leo agreed with Emma. I looked at him, "He must be feeling pretty bad right now." I let out a scoff and looked to Dash as he groaned.

"One of us should go talk to him, make sure everything's okay." Emma said, "I'll do it." Emma pushed off the dresser she was leaning against and straightened out her jacket, walking out of her room.

"You—" Dash started.

"Shut up." Leo cut him off. I got off the chair and stretched out, pulling my heart monitor up and over my head. My phone beeped twice, noting me of my medication.

"I have to go get meds." I said, dropping my arms and looking to Dash, "Let me know if anything comes up."

"Elaine, can we—" Leo started as I walked by him.

"Nope." I shook my head and continued out of Emma's room.

"Elaine, come on." Leo was following after me.

"I gotta get my meds or Nurse Jackson is gonna kill me." I said, not even glancing over my shoulder at him.

"Just wait." Leo groaned out.

"I think I'm gonna take the stairs." I said, tilting my head to the side.

"Now that's just cruel." Leo laughed a little. I tried to suppress a smile as I walked down the hall towards the stairs. "I can just beat you to your room using the elevator then!" Leo said.

"Yeah right." I scoffed out before taking off into a run. I ran to the stairs and pushed through the door, letting it clatter shut behind me. I raced down the stairs, breath coming in puffs as I got to my floor. I pushed through the exit door and placed my hand against the wall, trying to catch my breath as my heart monitor started beeping.

"And what the hell do you think you're doing?" Kenji asked, rolling the med cart up to me.

"Just…some… exercise." I managed out, taking in a deep breath. Kenji handed me a cup of pills and reached over to stop the beeping on my heart monitor.

"Stop running." He said, sounding stern.

"But it gets me to places quicker. I'm in a hospital. Who knows when I'm gonna drop dead?" I asked with a shrug. Kenji handed me a cup of water.

"You will if you don't take your pills." I gave him a look at threw back the meds before taking a gulp of water. "Still don't understand how you take all of them at once."

"Practice makes perfect." I gave him a charming smile before pushing off the wall. I looked down to see Leo rolling down the hall, looking into my room for me before looking up, seeing me standing with Kenji.

"Ah shit." I stomped my foot.

"What?" Kenji asked, looking over his shoulder to where I was looking, "Ah." He nodded at me, "That's my cue." He pushed the cart away from me.

"No, don't. Don't leave me." I said, grabbing onto his arm. Kenji laughed at me and shook me off. Leo started rolling towards me and I looked around, trying to find an escape route. I'd consider the stairs, but I would have to go up. So I lifted my chin up and started to walk towards Leo.

"I really don't want to talk to you right now, Leo." I said, "Try again in like four weeks."

"Lane, I just want to talk about last night."

"What part of _I really don't want to talk to you right now_ don't you understand?" I asked, "Don't you have to go win Emma back or something?" I asked, walking by him and into my room. Before Leo could follow me, I slammed the door shut in his face. I went over to the massive window where Leo was rolling by, and I pulled the curtain across it, shutting him out.

I stayed in my room, working on homework and doing other things to keep me occupied from thinking about Leo. I wanted to talk to him, yes, but I didn't want to talk to him about it because I didn't want to know the truth. I was perfectly fine living with what I heard through the grapevine.

"Elaine?" I heard Emma's voice say as she knocked on my door. "Elaine, can I come in?" I pushed my chair back and stepped over my things to get to the door. I opened the door to see Emma looking extremely nervous, twisting her fingers together.

"Emma, what is it?" I asked, stepping aside to let her in. Emma went over to my bed and sat down on the edge.

"Emma?" I asked sitting down next to her, "Is it Jordi? I know he lied about his mom—"

"I really like him." Emma cut me off. I gave her a smile.

"I know you do."

"But then Leo came into my room today and started talking about the past and—and—"

"Do you still have feelings for him?" I asked, trying to get her to look at me.

"No! Oh God, no." Emma shook her head, "We were—too different." She finished softly.

"You mean you weren't his type." I said, nodding a bit.

"You're his type." Emma said, "Blonde, cheerleader, you were probably popular before coming here."

"Honey, I was none of the above." I said, laughing a bit, "This isn't even my real hair color." I said, lifting my hair up. Emma laughed at me a little. "Leo doesn't like me like that." I shook my head.

"Well, he kissed you." Emma said, glancing at me. I gave her a small smile.

"Right, well…that was because he was drunk. And when people are drunk, they do stupid things."

"I really liked Leo." Emma admitted, "I liked him more than he liked me and _that's _why we broke up." She seethed out. I rubbed the back of her shoulder. I let her get ahold of herself and her emotions before speaking up.

"You don't owe Leo anything." I softly said, "He messed up. He lost _you_." I whispered out, "And now that you've started to move on, he wants you back. He wants you back because he can't have you."

"So what do I do?" Emma asked, looking at me.

"I think you and Jordi make a really cute couple." I said, giving her a smile, "I want you to be happy while you're in here. And I know Jordi likes you too."

"He does?" Emma asked, brightening up a bit. I nodded.

"But you didn't hear it from me." I said with a grin. Emma smiled at me as I nudged her, making her laugh.

"Jordi's playing poker with his mom. Do you wanna come watch with me?" Emma asked.

"Sounds lovely." I said, hopping off of my bed. I took Emma's hand and helped her off the bed. She grabbed her books and I led her out of the door.

_"You're embarrassing me." I groaned out with a little laugh._

_"Oh, no I'm not." My sister, Mia, laughed at me. "You'll know when I'm embarrassing you."_

_"I'm only going to be here a few weeks." I shook my head, "You can leave now. Mom and Dad already left." _

_"That's because they have lives and such." Mia pointed out. I rolled my eyes, "Someone needed to be here when you woke up from surgery."_

_"I couldn't even see when I woke up." I shot back, making Mia laugh at me. We walked into the cafeteria, getting food and sitting at a table. _

_"Ooo cutie at three o'clock." Mia whispered out. I glanced over to see a kid in a wheelchair with a bald head sitting at a table eating._

_"You are ridiculous, Mia." I said, shaking my head and turning back to my food, "We're in a hospital."_

_"And he's cute." Mia said, pointing her fork to the kid, "Go say hi."_

_"No."_

_"Yes." Mia leaned forward, urging me. "Do it."_

_"If I do it, will you leave me alone? Go back to your boyfriend?" I asked. Mia scrunched up her features._

_"Maybe." I laughed and shook my head before glancing over to the kid. I had already met one person, Dash, who seemed pretty chill. I didn't need another friend in here. Especially when I wasn't a long-term patient like some of the other patients I'd seen._

_"Fine." I gave in and pushed my chair back as Mia grinned at me. I held tightly onto my IV and pushed it next to me as I walked over to the boy._

_"Hi." I said, getting him to look up at me. His face broke out into a genuine smile, "Sorry, this is so weird." I laughed, "My sister—she wants me to make friends while I'm here." I looked over my shoulder at her, giving me the thumbs up. The boy laughed as I turned back around. _

_"And she volunteered you." I finished, gripping my IV a bit tighter._

_"Well, I'm Leo." Leo stuck up his hand for me to shake._

_"Lane." I said, before cringing, "I mean, it's Elaine, but some people call me Lane. Sounds a lot like lame if you ask me." I was babbling. Leo laughed at me._

_"No, I like it." Leo nodded at me, "Nice to meet you, Lane."_

Jordi and his mom were in the cafeteria, in the center table, already working through their game as Emma and I walked in. Jordi's mom was all in and it was Jordi's turn. As we walked by, I saw that he had a full house. He was going to win.

Emma and I sat at a table away from the rest of the group, even Kara had shown up. I watched Jordi decide to fold, ending the game as Jordi's mom gave a smile in victory. I glanced to Emma, brow furrowing. From their unhappy reunion, it seemed like Jordi didn't want his mom around. The group dispersed minutes later, each going their separate ways.

Kara was in my room, lying on her bed, when I walked in. She was flipping through one of the magazines, "So what pills do you take?" Kara asked, trying to be nonchalant. I glanced at her and scoffed.

"Right, like I'm gonna tell you." I shook my head and went over to my pill cup that Kenji had dropped off. I peered inside, noticing that my blue pill was missing.

"Did you take one of my pills?" I asked, glancing over to her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Kara looked over her magazine, raising her eyebrows at me. I took the pill cup and went over to her.

"Alright, you wanna know what I take?" I asked, "Enalapril, lowers my blood pressure." I pulled the white pill out, laying it on her bed before going for the next one, "Carvedilol, a beta blocker. Spironolactone, prevents my body from absorbing too much salt and keeps my potassium levels level." I laid the pills side by side, "Vitamin D, and baby aspirin." I looked at Kara, "And that blue pill that you _didn't take_?" I raised my hands, "It's Sildenafil, otherwise known as Viagra." Kara's eyes widened, "It treats pulmonary arterial hypertension. Not something you take for sleeping." I said, with a shake of my head, "So, give it back." I held out my hand. Kara went into her purse and pulled out the small blue pill.

"I can't believe you take Viagra." Kara whispered. I rolled my eyes and threw back the pills, swallowing them with water.

"I can't believe you thought it was for sleep." I said before walking past her and out of the room.

I didn't know where I was going when I walked out of my room. I just didn't want to be around when Nurse Jackson gave Kara her drug test results; if they were bad, it wouldn't be good for anyone. So I was meandering. Jordi had his mom back, Emma went up on the roof to be alone and think, Dash had gone off to give out the money he had collected to the winners and I had no idea where Leo went off to.

The service elevator door opened, revealing Leo with his crutches. I took in a breath and stepped inside with him. I decided on going to see Charlie, and Leo was going down as well. I kept quiet as the door slid down.

"Can we please talk about last night?" Leo asked after a moment.

"No." I said back with a shake of my head, "I've already heard enough."

"You haven't heard anything from me." Leo said, shifting on his crutches.

"I don't need to." I made a face and shrugged, "You said it was a mistake and that you were just drunk." I said, staring at the graffiti of Dash's name on the door.

"That's not what—"

"And now you want to get back with Emma because you've lost her." I said, finally glancing over to him, "That about covers it, right?"

"No!" Leo said as the elevator stopped. The door opened up and I let out a laugh as I walked out. "No, we're not done!"

"Yes, we are, Leo!" I snapped back, whirling around, "You kissed me, okay? And yeah, I ran from you. Why? Cause it freaked me out." I said, "You just broke up with Emma, already kissed me once because you felt pity for me and now this time, it was like I was some—some _rebound!_" I cried out, throwing my arms up in the air. "I am not a rebound, Leo."

"I'm not saying you are!" Leo said, pulling his shoulders up and laughing a bit, "If we could just talk this out—"

"I don't wanna talk it out!" I groaned, "I _wanted _to talk it out this morning, but then Dash came along and told me what you said and then I heard you talking with Jordi about being unfinished with Emma. _Then _I hear you wanna get _back _with Emma!" I finished ranting, "News flash! Emma's moved on."

"I know!" Leo shouted, cutting me off, "I know, Lane." I stopped and looked at him. "I just want to talk to you about last night so we can move on and just be friends again."

"Friends." I stated, crossing my arms over my chest, "Really?" I let out a laugh, "What about the whole _I said your name while we were making out?_" I mimicked him, "Or _I have a type…letter Es._" Leo started to look uncomfortable, "Or was that all just utter Leo bullshit to get me to fall for you?" I all about spat out, furious with Leo.

"Elaine, that's not—none of that was—I meant—"

"Like I said…" I stared at him, "I am _not a rebound_." I turned and started to walk away from Leo before stopping and turning back to look at him, finger raised.

"And if you're so _turned on_ by the letter E, Jordi's mom is named Eva…maybe you should go hook up with her. Keep the tally going." I said with a jut of my chin before turning back around and stomping down the hall.

_**A/N: Buuuurrrrrnnnn. Sadness. Thank you to all those who have favorited/followed this story, honestly your interest is amazing to me. Thank you to all who reviewed: RHatch89, Anna, SheebaDiva, India, FinalFantasyCrazedGirl01, chibi-no-baka, **_**_SplendiferousBowties, glowgreen4me, firedog1235, Guest, Emilee, XxMikealsonForeverxX, WalkingInAWinterWonderlandxx, Guest, Guest, Guest, and cleopatra123! Love you all so so so much! xxx_**


	7. Chapter 7

The envelope was staring me in the face. It was regular sized, which was bad, but could also be good. The blocky print return address was in the corner, my name in the middle. The address was my home address, but Mom must've forwarded it to me here. Somehow. I twirled the envelope in between my fingers, blowing out a breath as I debated on opening it. Three other regular sized envelopes were littered next to me. They mattered, but not as much as this one.

I took in a breath and carefully slid my finger under the flap, opening it as carefully as possible. I took out the piece of paper and unfolded it, closing my eyes until the paper was completely unfolded. The blocky type was the same on the paper and my eyes skipped to the first sentence of the paragraph.

_Congratulations! _

My stomach dropped. I didn't bother reading the rest. I just folded up the letter and slid it back into the envelope. My hands were shaking. I had been accepted to Stanford. College.

"Good morning!" Brittany chirped as she came into my room. I quickly shoved all the envelopes into a magazine and closed the magazine over the envelopes.

"Morning." I said, trying to keep my cook and force a smile on my face, "How was your night last night?" I asked, pushing the magazine aside as Brittany took her stethoscope off of her neck. She was quiet, which was a first; usually she was all hype and happy.

"Did something happen?" I asked, brow furrowing as I shifted on my bed, swinging my legs over the edge.

"Uh, I just broke up with my boyfriend." Brittany let out a scoff, "No biggie."

"Well are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine." Brittany's smile was forced as she tapped the end of her stethoscope, "Come on, let me listen to that heart." I nodded as she stepped up to me. I tugged off my shirt and she stepped up, pressing the cool metal against my skin. We were both silent as she moved around my chest before going to my back to listen to my lungs.

"Deep breath in." She softly said, "And let it out."

I did as I was told as Brittany moved around my back for a couple moments before she stepped back. She wrapped the stethoscope around her neck and gave me a small smile, "Everything sounds great."

"Good." I nodded as Brittany washed her hands, the butterfly needle sitting at the ready with a couple of small vials.

"Are you sure you don't want to—"

"His name was Ben." Brittany cut me off, "I moved out here, left my family and friends to be with him." She sounded really broken up. Brittany turned away from the sink and walked over to me.

"Sorry, I'm sure you don't want to hear all this…" She sniffed.

"No, it's fine." I waved my hand in the air, "I left all my friends and family to come out here too."

"Because you had to, not because you thought you were going to marry this man." Brittany said, then she glanced at me, "Sorry, that was _way _too personal. And offensive." Brittany said, pulling on her gloves, "Wow, I can't believe I said that to you."

"It's the truth." I shrugged, "I can handle it."

"Anyway." Brittany said with a shake of her head, "Let's move on, hmm?" I gave her my left hand and raised an eyebrow, "Right. Always the hand." Brittany nodded to herself.

"I'm sure you'll get over him in no time." I said as Brittany rubbed her finger around the top of my hand, trying to find a good vein. "Plus, now you have more time for us." I grinned at her, trying to make a joke. Brittany gave a pathetic laugh as she flicked my hand.

"I just need to get my mind off of it." Brittany said as she readied the butterfly needle, "Did you have a boyfriend?" She asked.

"I don't really know if this is the correct way to get your mind—" I stopped as Brittany gave me a look, "Me? Boyfriend? No." I shook my head, "I was very content with being single." I said, staring at my hand as Brittany slid the needle in, hitting my vein, "I had my friends and I was cool with being alone."

"Did your friends have boyfriends?" Brittany asked as she plugged one of the vials into the end of the tube.

"A few." I shrugged, "We were all friends though. My friend, Carmilla, said that this kid Will, had a crush on me." I made a face, "Nothing happened though."

"Because then you came here." Brittany finished.

"Yeah." I nodded as Brittany switched out the vials. "It just wasn't meant to happen." I gave another shrug. Brittany finished up the last of the vials, shaking it after she pulled it out. Then she snapped the needle out, untied the blue tape from around my arm and put a cotton ball on the top of my hand.

"We're out of superhero band-aids, so…" She pulled out some sort of green tape, "This is what you're getting." She wrapped the sticky green tape around my hand, pressing it closed.

"Off to Hematology you go." Brittany patted my shoulder. I hopped off of my bed, walking towards the door as Brittany finished up the charts for the blood.

I stepped out of my room only to be hit by a flying soccer ball. I flinched and let out an audible, "OW!" as I turned to where the ball came from. _Leo._

"Seriously?!" I cried out, scooping up the ball as Leo started to hobble over.

"I'm sorry, I didn't even see you!" Leo said. I used all my strength and lobbed the ball back at him, hitting him in the gut and making him double over with a groan.

"Douchecanoe." I grumbled out before walking away from Leo. I rubbed my arm as I walked down to the elevators.

Hematology was empty when I got there, luckily, but I knew the wait was still going to be long. That's the way it was with hospitals, hurry up and wait. There was always someone who was late, who threw off the entire schedule.

I let my fingers tap against the arm of the chair as I walked people walk past me, going to various places in the hospital. There were Moms holding their kids' hands, Dads pushing wheelchairs, friends visiting their friends who were in the hospital, and so and so forth. I couldn't help but feel a little lonely. My parents couldn't come out to visit me; it was too expensive, my sister was getting ready for her wedding, my friends…I don't even know what happened to my friends.

Carmilla was my best friend before I was admitted into Ocean Park. We were total opposites, but we had clicked in freshman English when we bonded over _The Lottery_. Morbid, right? But still, she was my other half, my sister from another mister; she knew about my heart defect and wanted to know everything about everything. I told what I knew, and she researched on her own.

Then I collapsed at work. She was there that night, visiting me because that was just who she was. She sat through the night at the hospital with me, was there in the morning when we were informed that my doctor had left, but then she disappeared right before I was transferred to Ocean Park. Not even a goodbye. And I hadn't heard from her since.

"Hey, Elaine." An unfamiliar resident said to me, "Come on, let's get started." I followed her into one of the rooms where she shut the door behind her. I got up on the examination table—it was instinctual now, and stared at her as she pulled up my file on her computer.

"Okay, so I'm Dr. Hollis. I'm gonna be with you for the next two years." Dr. Hollis introduced herself.

"What happened to Dr. Wittmer?" I asked, brow furrowing.

"Residencies are only two years, and she moved to D.C. so you're stuck with me." Dr. Hollis grinned at me. I nodded in response.

"So we're getting your blood from downstairs in a few minutes. Your platelet count was a little low last time, so we wanna see if they stayed at the same level, or went up."

"Okay."

"Have you got your period yet?"

"No." I said with a slight shake of my head, "Nurse Jackson wants to schedule me with Endo soon-ish."

"That'd be good." Dr. Hollis nodded, "And once you start menstruating, we have to find some sort of birth control that doesn't have any estrogen in it."

"Why would I need birth control?" I asked, brow furrowing, "Who am I gonna have sex with in a _hospital_?" I asked. Dr. Hollis looked taken aback, but she quickly recovered.

"You're not going to be here forever, Elaine. The goal is to get you back into the real world as quickly as possible." I stared at her for a moment before nodding. I looked to the side where there was a poster of a cat with an inspirational message. Dr. Hollis had moved on, talking about something else. I answered her questions in a monotone, completely done with her. She wasn't very good at her job.

After my appointment, I headed back to my room, intent on reading my acceptance letter over and over until my eyes bled. I had to figure out what I was going to do. Plus there were two more envelopes that were un-open and waiting for me.

I wanted to go to college. I wanted to get out of this place and move on with my life. But my body didn't quite see it that way; fucked up liver and a fucked up heart wasn't really fit for college life. It just wasn't going to work in my favor, which is why a part of me was hoping I would get denied, wait-listed, anything except for acceptance.

"What the hell is going on here?" I asked as I stepped into my room. Kara had taken over. Dresses were hanging from her IV poles, there was music playing from a speaker, nail polish and make up littered the windowsill. Kara turned to me, hair up in rollers.

"Homecoming." Kara simply said with a shrug. Her little minion waved at me.

"You should come!" The minion said, eyes wide and a huge smile on her face.

"Uh, no. I'd rather not." I said, shaking my head and going over to my bed, which was thankfully untouched. Except for my magazine. Which held all of my letters.

"Where's the magazine that was here?" I asked, looking at the girls. Kara stopped putting mascara on and pointed to the dresser. I quickly went over and flipped the magazine open to where I put the envelopes. They were still there, untouched. I pressed them to my chest and went back over to my bed, Kara's eyes trained on me.

"Maybe you should come, Elaine." Kara said.

"What? Why?"

"It'd be nice to have a wing-woman." Kara smirked at me, "And we're about the same size, right?"

"I have no idea." I said, blinking a bit.

"Well, I'm wearing sequins, so you can wear…." Kara got out of her seat and went over to the plethora of dresses, selecting one with a deep V and a feathered skirt. It was a teal color and had a little bit of sequins around the straps.

"We can match, but not be twinning." Kara said, holding the dress to me, "Come on." She shook it at me, "We haven't got a lot of time to fix what this hospital did to your skin."

"Uh, my skin is fine." Kara gave me a look. I sighed and chewed on my bottom lip, debating. I looked out the window to see Leo hobble by on his crutches.

"Fine." I said, wanting nothing more than to get out of the hospital. "I'm in." I said, looking back at Kara. I was going to homecoming. Oh, Lord.

_**A/N: I know this chapter was super short, but if I combined both parts, it'd be super long. So yeah. Elaine's going to homecoming! Thank you for favoriting/following this story and huge thank yous to those who reviewed: RHatch89, WalkingInAWinterWonderlandxx, SheebaDiva, bezerker-xxx, Nirvana14, hella-sirius, XxMikealsonForeverxX, BreannaKnowsBest, TvShowsManiac, Anna, firedog123, SupernaturalRomanceIStheBest99, jaberwooky, and crystalmreed! You guys rock my socks and enjoy tonight's episode! xx**_


	8. Chapter 8

Kara had her minion primp and ready me and I was actually starting to enjoy myself. I would never admit that to Kara though; she would just hold that over my head for forever. But it was fun to have a friend around my age who was a girl. As much as I loved Emma, she was always buried in a book, never wanting to talk the latest trends or movie star romances. Kara was all for it. I found myself slipping back into how I was before the hospital, almost picturing Kara as Carmilla, even though Kara didn't even come close to Carmilla. But it was fun to do each other's nails, figure out how to hide the wires for the heart monitors—Kara bedazzled hers for some reason, I was fine with sticking mine in the clutch Kara had lent me.

I don't even know how long it took, but the sun was set as Kara zipped her dress on me, no problem. She turned me to face the mirror and let out a little squeal.

"Holy shit, you have a body under those sweats and sweaters." Kara said with a grin, "God, I'd so have sex with you."

"Thank you…?" I laughed out as I smoothed my hands down the dress. The green tape stood out against the tealish color, but I didn't mind it one bit. Kara had done my hair in some complicated updo that ended in a side pony-tail, the minion did my make-up and had even managed to cover the sticker for the heart monitor with foundation.

"I'm impressed." I admitted, making a satisfied face at my reflection. I turned to the side, hand on my hip and pushed my lips into a pout. I laughed at myself and stepped away.

"Let's go before I stare at myself too long and regret this." I smiled at Kara, "Thank you." I said, looking to Kara's minion and giving her a hug.

"It was fun." She said after stepping away. Kara flipped her hair over her shoulder and picked up her clutch.

"You done?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I nodded and Kara let out a sharp breath.

"Good." She handed her phone over to the minion, "Take a picture of us."

"Please." I added on with a small smile. Kara got on my left, forcing me to put my green covered hand around her waist. I smiled for the camera as the girl took the photo.

"Perfect. You guys look awesome." The girl said, handing the phone back to Kara.

"Hey, send that to me?" I asked, "I can give you my number later."

"Right, not like we _live _together." Kara said, giving me a look as if I were stupid.

I nodded and pointed at her before taking the small silver purse that Kara had lent me to put my monitor in and slung it over my shoulder. Kara gave me a wry smile before whirling around and sauntering out of the room. I was right behind her, lifting my chin and imitating Kara's walk.

As I walked out to the main hall, I saw Brittany and Emma waiting for us, completely decked out in Homecoming attire. I felt a grin spread across my face, but Kara was not happy.

"What is _that_ doing here?" She asked, pointing to Emma.

"Surprise!" Brittany cheered out, "We're all going to homecoming together."

"Ha! Not a chance." Kara raised her eyebrows, "I'm not going with Poca-hotmess."

"I told you this was a bad idea." Emma mumbled.

"Do not let her get under your skin." Brittany shushed Emma.

"I think you fantastic." I said, reaching out for Emma's hand.

"Oh, well, how could I?" Kara snapped back, "I would have to get past all the peach fuzz first. Oh, my God, is it on your stomach, too? Are you all furry like a bear?"

"Kara!" I hissed out, head snapping to look at her.

"Okay, say one more mean thing, and we're leaving without you." Nurse Brittany stepped up closer to Kara, finger brandished.

"Hello? It's my school." Kara protested.

"Hello? I don't care." Nurse Brittany mimicked.

"W - Oh. But she doesn't even—"

"What?" Nurse Brittany cut Kara's protests off.

"Okay. Fine. Can we just go already? God!" Kara stomped off to the elevators. I pulled Emma closer to me and snuggled her against my side.

"I love your dress." I said, "Very 1920s, flapper girl." I said, nodding at her. Emma just sighed, taking a step to go after Kara and Nurse Brittany. I had no choice but to follow.

Kara's high school looked no different than mine. Just your regular high school with the jocks and nerds and cheerleaders and everyone in between. Nurse Brittany dropped us off at the front, saying she wasn't going to stop us from having fun. Kara didn't even say thank you, just took my hand and practically dragged me inside. Emma was barely keeping up in her little heels. I looked over my shoulder just to make sure she was with us.

"Slow your roll, Skeletor." Kara said, whipping around as we got to the double doors to the gym. Emma had caught up, but came to a quick stop as Kara glared at her.

"Just because I let you come with me does not mean that we've joined the sisterhood of the traveling panties." Kara snapped out, "Starting now, we're complete strangers."

"For the record, I want to be here about as much you want me to be here…probably less." Emma shot back, holding up her hands.

"That's not humanly possible." Kara said, making a face.

"Can you just wait until Brittany's finished parking the car?" Emma asked, looking over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. Do I know you?" Kara asked before looping her arm through mine and practically dragging me away from Emma.

"I'm sorry!" I mouthed out to Emma as Kara whipped me around.

"Just stay by my side and don't say anything stupid." Kara said, voice low as we stepped into the gym.

"Got it." I said, taking in a deep breath and surveying the gym floor. There were so many kids packed into the massive gym, talking, dancing, eating and having fun.

"Oh, my God." Kara's little minion came up to us, "In this light, you look exactly like Beyoncé's Caucasian little sister." She squealed, grinning at Kara.

"Can I borrow lip gloss?" Kara asked, still looking around the gym.

"Of course. But there are much more pressing matters we need to discuss." The girl said as she dug into her clutch for her lipgloss.

"Wait." Kara held up her hand, "What the hell? Did you not tell Quinby I was wearing sequins?" I looked to where Kara was glaring at. There was a girl wearing a sequined dress, talking among a group of what I assumed were Kara's former squad.

"I texted everyone." The minion said as Kara yanked the lipgloss from her hand.

"My God, this is exactly what I was talking about. Things are already spiraling _way_ out of control." Kara was ridiculous.

"It's just a dress, Kara." I said, lifting my hand up, "Honestly, she looks good and you look good and I—" Kara held up her hand to stop me from talking.

"Okay, but we really need to talk." The minion said.

"I can't talk right now. I need to go in there and assert my power." Kara flipped her hair back and sauntered over to the group of girls. Her little minion followed after, leaving me alone. I let out a sigh. So much for wing-woman.

I stood by the table Kara had left me at for a moment before turning around in a slow circle. There was a longer table off to the side where I saw kids getting food and drinks. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw that Kara was otherwise engaged in being fawned over by her cheerleading squad. I wasn't needed.

I went over to the food table, going behind it so I could still look over the dance floor as I picked at the snacks. There was candy, chips and a bowl of fruit punch for the kids to pick at if they got tired of dancing.I saw Emma at a table with a few other girls, taking pictures. Kara was in her little group of friends, Brittany was on the bleachers. I debated joining before deciding against it. Couples came over, laughing and being lovey dovey. Groups of friends came over and said some inside joke which made them all laugh and I just continued to pick at the bowl of chips.

"Hey." I said, getting a girl's attention, "Do you know where I could get a bottle of water? I'm not much for fruit punch." I said, scrunching up my nose. The girl laughed and nodded.

"In that hallway down there." She said as she pointed, "I love your dress by the way."

"Oh, thank you." I smiled to myself, looking down at the dress. "You look really pretty too."

"Thanks." The girl laughed, "I'm Kat, by the way."

"Elaine." I nodded at her.

"Maybe I'll see you around."

"Probably not." I said, scrunching up my face again, "But it was nice meeting you."

"You too." Kat nodded at me and turned away from the food table.

I popped the last chip I was holding and turned towards the hallway, walking over to it as Leo came out of the double doors, back into the gym. I froze when I saw him; he was decked out in a suit and tie, looking a little sad as he rested on his crutch. His eyes scanned the gym, stopping when they fell on me. I debated turning around, but he had saw me and was hobbling over to me.

"Elaine!" He called out to me. I gave him a tight smile.

"What are you doing here?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Just thought it'd be fun to get out of the hospital." Leo shrugged.

"Cool, nice seeing you." I went to turn away, but Leo grabbed my arm, pulling me back to face him.

"Do you wanna dance with me?" He asked. I stared at him.

"Are you serious right now?" I asked back, "Do you not remember the past two days?!" I cried out, "You're the _last _person I want to dance with right now."

"Listen, Lane, I know you're mad at me and you have a right to be, but I came here to have fun with my friends. Can't we just leave that stuff back at the hospital and act like we're just two high school kids meeting at a dance?" I laughed at him and shook my head, looking around the gym.

"You are ridiculous." I took in a breath, deciding to go along with his dumb plan, "Fine." Leo smiled at me.

"Hey, I'm Leo Roth." He said, sticking his hand out.

"Elaine Bates." I said, trying not to smile as I shook his hand.

"You look beautiful." Leo said, letting go of my hand, "Do you want to dance with me?" He asked.

"Sure." I said with a shrug. Leo offered me his hand again, which I took, and led me to the edge of the dance floor.

He leaned his crutch against one of the empty round tables as I held onto him. Leo hopped on his leg, shifting so he was facing me. He placed his hands on my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"You good?" I asked as we started to sway. He looked a little uncomfortable, so I took his hands and moved them around my neck so he had something to anchor onto. I placed my hands on his hips instead, reversing it.

"There we go." I smiled at him. Leo blushed and looked down before looking back at me. We swayed to the beat of the song, which wasn't a slow one, but it worked.

"At my high school, they would always say _leave room for the Holy Spirit._" I mimicked, making Leo laugh.

"How much room?" He asked. I leaned back so there was a good amount of space between us.

"That much." I said with a laugh. Leo shook his head as I pulled him closer to me again.

"Now that's just ridiculous." He laughed as I shrugged and rolled my eyes up.

"So you went to a lot of school dances." Leo guessed.

"Oh, yeah." I nodded, smiling at him, "I loved these things. People watching is my favorite thing to do." I looked around the gym. "What about you?" I asked, looking back at Leo, "Your soccer team like needed to be at these things, right?"

"Yeah, we were always at dances." Leo nodded, "Usually just in the corners, getting up enough courage to go talk to a girl." I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"_Please_. I doubt that."

"It's true!" Leo said, raising his shoulders, "I was always afraid of being shot down."

"But were you ever?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"…No." Leo said. I laughed at him and made him groan, "Okay, but the nervousness was there!"

"Right, yeah." I nodded and rolled my eyes. Leo smiled at me as we continued to sway, getting comfortable with each other.

I moved my arms so they were completely around his waist and leaned forward, acting on instinct as I rested my cheek on his shoulder. Leo's hands moved so they were resting on my lower back, still holding himself up as I stared at his neck, noticing the little mole he had.

"Elaine!" Kara's voice made me lift my head and look to the side. "Elaine!" She was coming straight towards us.

"Hey, hi." I said, brow furrowing as Kara yanked me away from Leo. Luckily, he was close enough to the table to get there before falling over.

"Am I going to die?" Kara asked, her grip tightening on my arm.

"Yeah, eventually. It's a part of life." I said. Kara dug her nails into my skin, "Okay, ow! What's going on?"

"I'm dying aren't I? I'm not gonna get a new heart and I'm gonna die!" Kara was freaking out.

"Okay, you need to calm down and let go of my arm." I said, shaking my arm a bit for emphasis. Kara let go of my arm and stalked away from me.

"Where are you going?" I called out.

"I'm getting out of here." Kara said, whirling back around and stalking back up to us, "Everyone in this _hellcoming_ is obsessed with me and my heart problem."

"What's wrong with that?" Leo asked, "I thought you liked being the center of attention."

"Yeah, not this kind of attention." Kara snapped out. I raised an eyebrow as Kara looked back at me, "I used to walk down these halls like I was freaking Moses. The crowd would part at my feet, but now everyone is coming up to me and talking to me, _hugging_ me."

"You know that's 'cause they care about you." Leo pointed out.

"Yeah, they're worried about you. It's what people do." I said, knowing from experience.

"Screw that noise." Kara scoffed, "I'd rather be feared than loved." Leo let out a chuckle and I groaned, rolling my eyes.

"Who are you? Tony Soprano? I mean, come on. What kind of philosophy is that?"

"Look, you two might get off on being Mr. Cancer Boy, bald poster child legless man. And Ms. Half a Heart, Stanford bound girl, but the one thing I'm not okay with is being pitied." Kara said, dropping the Stanford bomb and getting my attention.

"How do you—" I started to ask when I was cut off by microphone feedback.

"Greetings, fellow Vikings." I heard a girl say, "It is with great honor and humbleness-ity that I announce Paradise Cove High's 2014 Homecoming Queen, Kara Souders." The entire gym started cheering as a spotlight came on Kara, pointing her out with the rest of us.

"Hop in." A guy said, unfolding a wheelchair in front of Kara. Kara eyed it with disgust and gave a little laugh.

"I can walk."

"Actually, for insurance purposes, we're gonna need you to go ahead and take a seat." The guy said, nodding to the chair. Kara let out a defeated sigh and plopped down in the chair, looking over at us as the guy pushed her to the stage. Leo and I followed, Leo breaking away to go talk to Emma. I stood in the middle of the crowd, watching as Kara was rolled up onto the stage. Emma came over as did Leo as Kara was stopped in the middle of the stage. The guy went to the microphone, getting everyone's attention. Kara looked utterly miserable.

"Welcome, students, to Paradise Cove's most heartfelt crowning ceremony yet. I ask you, what makes a queen? Courage, fearlessness, kindness, and an acne-free complexion." A ripple of laughter went through the crowd, sounding more like a pity laugh than anything else, "Kara Souders is all of these things, but what is most special about Kara is her heart, and before we crown her queen of our hearts, Paradise Cove's spirited cheer squad has put together a tribute video to honor Kara." I looked to Leo, who looked like he had an idea forming.

"Hey! Hold on, uh, one sec." He called out, raising his crutch in the air, "I got to, um I got to say something."

"I know how you feel." The guy said, "Once you start the love, it's hard to stop. Come on up here, son." Leo started hobbling up to the stage and I felt my eyes go wide, catching on to his plan.

"I have something to say too!" I said, following after him. Leo was handed the microphone as we got on the stage. Kara looked confused as we passed her, mouthing a question of _What?_

"A few words on Kara Souders." Leo started, "I've only known her for five days, but what I've learned is that five days with Kara is five days too many!" Leo boasted, getting a load of horrified gasps.

"Because Kara is the biggest bitch I've ever met in my entire life!" Leo continued. The guy tried to take the microphone from Leo, but I wrangled it out of his grasp first.

"It's true!" I said in the microphone, "She goes through all of my stuff like it's hers!" I looked to Kara, "Tells me what to do!" Leo grabbed the microphone back.

"A true tyrant, right Elaine?!" He asked out. I nodded as Kara gave us amused looks. "She's-she's not a queen. She's a dictator. Cold, selfish, _tyrannical_." Leo was ranting, "She does not deserve your compassion and, most of all, does not deserve this crown." Leo said before dropping the microphone in pure Leo fashion. I looked to Kara, who was grinning at us.

Then she pushed out of her wheelchair and stalked past me, shoving me out of the way in order to grab Leo's face, pulling him towards her and kissing him. I felt my jaw drop as she deepened the kiss, getting cheers from the crowd. Then I put my hand on her shoulder, yanking her back and whirling her around. I raised my hand and slapped her across the face, hard enough for my hand to start stinging and the sound to echo. Her head snapped to the side as the crowd reacted.

"BITCH!" I cried out before whirling around and stomping off the stage. I shoved through the crowd, grabbing Emma's hand and tugging her behind me, out of the gym.

The car ride back to the hospital was silent. I had dragged Emma outside of the school, waiting as Kara came staggering out, letting out a cheer. Her arm was wrapped around Leo's neck, crown dangling from her fingers. Nurse Brittany was right behind them, pushing through to lead us to where she parked the car.

Kara came off of her high when we got back to the hospital. The elevator ride up to the main floor was just as quiet as the car ride home. I stood in the corner, leaning against the wall, heels dangling from my fingers, glaring at the back of Leo's head. Kara seemed to finally realize the pain from my slap, as she was clutching her face when the elevator doors open. Her phone started to blare and she got so frustrated, she whirled around, hurling it at the wall. She stormed off, going to our room, leaving Leo, Nurse Brittany, Emma and me.

"So have you officially hooked up with every girl in this hospital yet?" I asked, not even looking at Leo as I walked off to my room.

I dropped Kara's shoes by her bed, getting her attention away from taking off her makeup. She stared at me and then continued to wipe off her eye makeup.

"You sure slapped me pretty hard up there." Kara started, "If I didn't know better, I would've thought it was for real." I stared at her. She thought I was just keeping up the act. She didn't know that I actually wanted to kill her.

"Right, yeah. Wanted it to be believable." I said, nodding a bit.

"Here, I'll unzip you." Kara came to me, motioning me to turn around. "So, Stanford." She started as she yanked the zipper down.

"I don't want to talk to you about it. Especially since you went through my mail, which is illegal." I said, stepping away from her and turning around to face her. Kara shrugged.

"Whatever. Just wanted to know if I'd be getting a single anytime soon." And with that, she flounced off, going back to taking off her war paint.

I hung the dress up, hanging it on the back of the door, letting my hand trail down the material before turning away. Kara handed me a makeup wipe and I next to her, taking off the makeup, taking my contacts out and returning to my normal state of Elaine. I threw the wipe in the trash before climbing into bed.

Kara shut the lights off before climbing into her own bed. We were both silent for a moment, "You know, if I bruise, I'll kill you." Kara said.

"Counting on it." I responded, rolling over as my phone lit up with the pictures Kara had sent me before she broke her phone against the wall.

I smiled to myself as I looked at the two of us; in the room, in the car, at the dance. I exited out of the photos and went to my contacts, typing in Carmilla's name. I stared at the pulsating blue line in the blank text box for a moment; I wanted to text her and tell her about everything that had happened in the past few months. But then I locked my phone and shoved it under my pillow, rolling over and closing my eyes.

The cafeteria wasn't a busy place during late morning. It was after the breakfast rush, but before the lunch rush. Plus they were still serving breakfast and were starting to set out lunch so I had a choice. I picked my breakfast and lunch combo, heading over to a table by the windows. My coffee was in a mug, being kept hidden and I was trying not to be obvious about it. I had my magazine with the letters of acceptance tucked away in the middle, still deciding what I was going to do. Only Kara knew about the whole thing and she wasn't very intrigued enough to keep interested.

"Hey." I heard Leo's voice say from next to me. I didn't look up from my book, just raised my middle finger at him.

"Wow." He let out a low whistle, "Never thought I'd see that from you."

"Yeah, well, things change once you screw me over." I said, eyes trained on the words. I was rereading the same sentence over and over again. Leo was silent.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to about something." Leo said after a few moments of silence. I had thought he'd pick up on my signals, but I was wrong.

"I heard Nurse Brittany just broke up with her boyfriend." I murmured, "Maybe you can get with her." I flipped the page with a pointed look at Leo.

"Would you stop?!" Leo cried out, flailing about a little in his wheelchair, "She kissed me!"

"You didn't very well stop her, did you?" I asked, eyes narrowing.

"Why are you so upset about this?" Leo asked, giving a laugh, "We aren't together." He flicked his finger between the two of us.

"Obviously." I said, trading out my book for my coffee mug.

"So I don't understand why you're so upset about what happened last night!"

"I'm not upset." I calmly said, sipping from my mug.

"Bullshit!" Leo laughed out, "You know I got an email from the soccer coach at Stanford? He said that he wants me on their team next year! And the first person I wanted to tell was you, but I couldn't cause you were so _pissed _at me."

"Do you even know why I'm pissed at you?" I asked, shifting my weight a bit. He had thrown me off with the email about Stanford. I had no idea that he had gotten that email, but I recovered.

"It's not because you kissed me and then Kara kissed you. It's because you pretty much told me I was on your mind even when you were drunk. That _I_ was your type. And you pretty much sounded like you were in love with me." I said, voice rising, "And the next day it was like nothing happened! You're back with being obsessed with Emma! And don't even forget about last night." I made my eyes wide as I leaned forward, "We're back at the hospital, Leo. You gotta deal with this now." I said, "That's why I'm pissed at you. You frustrate me, Leo Roth." I finished, standing up. I grabbed the magazine, dropping it in his lap.

"Page thirty-two. And congrats on Stanford. We could've gone together." I said, walking by him, coffee still in my hand.

Kara's minion was leaving our room as I got back to it. She gave me a smile as she walked by, which I returned before walking into the room.

"Was she giving you the four-one-one on what happened after I slapped the shit out of you?" I asked, sipping my coffee as I sat crossed legged on my bed.

"I don't care what goes on at that high hell." Kara said, climbing onto her bed, "I'm not going back there."

"Yeah, you are." I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"No, I'm not." Kara seriously said, "I'm not being pitied for the rest of my high school career."

"Okay." I held up my hands, making a face, "Your choice." Kara smirked at me before pulling on her massive headphones and blasting her music.

"What the hell, Bates!?" Leo all about yelled out as he rolled into the room. I looked at him, thrown that he had called me by my last name.

"Colombia, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, _and_ Stanford?!" He tossed the envelopes on my bed, "You got accepted to _all_ of those schools?" I sipped my coffee, pulling up my shoulders.

"I had good ACT scores." I answered.

"When were you going to tell me?" Leo asked.

"I wasn't." I simply replied. Leo looked hurt, "Oh, don't look like a wounded puppy, I wasn't going to tell anyone."

"Why?"

"Not like I could go." I said, gesturing to myself, "It would be too much work to get everything figured out, especially if I went to Vanderbilt. And a lot of money, which I don't have." I explained.

"You should've told me." Leo rolled up to the edge of my bed.

"You should've told me about Stanford." I pointed out.

"Yeah, well, that's not happening either." Leo sighed out, I felt my brow furrow, "I'm not gonna be the soccer player who survived cancer. You know, the guy they parade out at half time like some fuzzy mascot and gives inspirational speeches 'cause I'm not a sob story." He explained.

"You're not." I nodded, "You're Leo Roth, frustratingly annoying." I said, lifting my chin a bit.

"And you're Elaine Bates, frustratingly confusing." Leo said, with a little smile.

"I think that's all girls." I said, smiling a little at him.

"So what are you going to do with these?" He asked, gesturing to the letters. I let out a sigh and picked up the Stanford one. I stared at it for a moment before ripping it in half. Then I ripped it again, and again, and again until there were little pieces of paper instead of the letter.

"That's what I'm gonna do." I said, glancing at him. Leo shrugged and handed me another envelope.

"I miss you." Leo said after a moment of silence. I looked at him, seeing that he was still looking at me, "I mean, do you see my eyebrows?" I couldn't help but laugh at him.

"I need you, Lane. And I'm sorry I was a complete…"

"Douchecanoe?" I provided an example.

"Yeah." Leo smiled a bit, "I'm sorry about last night, I'm sorry about the party, about how I acted afterwards...you're not a rebound. I never wanted you to feel like I was using you. I didn't want you to get hurt. I'm the world's biggest idiot and—I just…I'm sorry. I don't want to be in a fight anymore." Leo finally finished.

I took in a breath and looked away from him. I missed Leo. I missed talking to him, missed hanging out with him among other things. I knew that I should forgive him; he was one of my best friends. I looked back at him, reaching out and squeezing his hand.

"God, your eyebrows are _horrible_." I said, making him laugh. I reached over, letting go of his hand to grab my eyebrow pencil.

_**A/N: Thank you to all those who favorited/followed. Honestly, I love see how many of you love this story! It blows me away. PLus I have to thank all those who reviewed: FinalFantasyCrazedGirl01, WalkingInAWinterWonderlandxx, RHatch89, SheebaDiva, Twinie4life, XxMikealsonForeverxX, and Kira Tsumi! Love you all very much. xxx**_


	9. Chapter 9

_You know when you're on a roller coaster and right as you go down the massive drop, your stomach plummets, but feels like its lodged in your throat? Which is ridiculous, but my stomach felt like it was dropping at rapid speeds on a random Wednesday morning. My eyes flashed open as I jumped in my seat. I took in a sharp breath and looked around the classroom, no one had noticed. Except for Carmilla. She cocked a perfectly plucked eyebrow at me and tapped her pen against her teeth. _

_"Sorry." I breathed out, slumping down in my chair and shoving a hand through my hair. Carmilla just let out a 'mhmm.'_

_"What class is this again?" I asked, looking at the pages in my textbook._

_"Are you serious?" Carmilla asked. I looked around the classroom, feeling a bit disorientated as my vision came back into focus._

_"No, totally joking." I scoffed and glanced down at my textbook, "Of course I knew this was Chemistry." The knot in my stomach got bigger as I lied to her. I knew what class it was, but it took me a couple seconds to figure it out._

_"Are you okay?" Carmilla asked me, brows furrowing. I felt my stomach roll again._

_"Just a little disorientated." I shook my head before grimacing, "Ugh, I feel like I'm going to throw up." Carmilla straightened up in her seat as an expression of panic crossed her features._

_"Should I take you to the nurse?"_

_"Stop mom-ing me." I said, glancing at her as I flipped the pages in my textbook, "I'm fine."_

_"You don't seem fine."_

_"I'm just a little stressed, okay?" I all about snapped at her. Carmilla lifted her hands in the air and turned away from me._

_"Sorry." I added on as an afterthought. _

My favorite place in Ocean Park was the cafeteria, most would think it was the radio booth, but that was my second favorite place. I loved the cafeteria; the food was semi-decent for a hospital, but that wasn't why. I loved the cafeteria because it was a place where doctors, nurses and patients all intermingled. Like our own Switzerland, neutral ground. I always loved sitting by the window and people watching, making up stories in my head as they passed. There were kids and parents, nurses in pairs who were talking quietly to each other and doctors who looked extremely tired after their rotations.

I placed my breakfast on my tray and went over to the empty table. There wasn't anyone from the group around yet; Emma was with Jordi, staying in his room since his social worker was meeting with him. Jordi's mom skipped out of town after Jordi collapsed at the movies. I felt bad for the kid, and I was fully prepared to help him out in any way. Emma seemed to be handling it pretty well, though, so I didn't see any reason to step in. Leo was still sleeping, as was Dash and Kara…

"I need your help." Kara said, slamming her hands down on the table. I jumped a little and reached for my coffee, trying to stop it from splashing over.

"With what?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Since you're a _genius_, I need you to help me with Chemistry." She said, moving her head around. She finally changed out of her robe and into normal clothes, which meant she accepted the fact that she would be staying in Ocean Park.

"First off, I'm not a genius, I am just good at taking tests." I said, raising a finger, "And second off, Chemistry is my worst subject."

"Would you please just do me a favor?" Kara asked, falling into the empty seat. The blonde reached over and took a couple of my grapes. "It's the least you could do since you slapped the shit out of me the other night." I stared at Kara for a moment before looking away, letting out sigh.

"Fine." I said, raising my hands a little bit, "We're going to the lounge though." I said, sitting up and getting my stuff together, "It has whiteboards and stuff we can use." Kara took the rest of my grapes and tossed them back into her mouth. I rolled my eyes and picked up my tray, dumping the leftovers into the trash. I hiked up the strap of my heart monitor up higher and looked at Kara. I let out a sigh and headed out of the cafeteria, Kara behind me.

_"Why do you have to work tonight?" Carmilla was whining as we walked down the hall, "You never work Wednesdays! Wednesdays are our time. We pretend to be studying but are actually watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians!" Carmilla complained._

_"Bridget called me, Carm!" I responded, "Her crazy ex-husband is trying to get her kids. I have to do it."_

_"Why are you so moral?" Carmilla groaned out, rolling her head back as we got to my locker, "Who am I gonna watch TV with now?"_

_"You could try, oh, I don't know…your boyfriend." I said, giving her a look._

_"He's got lacrosse and he doesn't like those reality shows anyway." Carmilla waved her hand in the air dismissively, "Come on, Elaine." She grabbed my arm and shook it as I took my books out, "We're Carmlaine! We watch crappy reality television and binge out on sour watermelons gummies. It's tradition!"_

_"Carm, I already said I would do it." I sighed and took my arm back from her, "Now, I have to go." I made a face as I turned away from her, and practically running down the hall to the parking lot. _

"Okay, see? So this needs two to become a positive charge so we put two oxygens here." I said, drawing the diagram of CO2 on the white board. Kara and I had been working through her Chemistry homework for the past hour and she was slowly getting it. Dash had come into the lounge and set up shop, but I didn't pay attention to him, which was easy since my back was to him.

"Yeah?" I asked Kara, glancing at her. Kara nodded, crossing her arms over her chest, "And then you have CO2." I said, stepping back.

"That's it?" Kara asked, raising her eyebrows. She finally looked at me like I was the dumb one, which meant she understood the material.

"Told you it wasn't that hard." I shrugged and capped the marker, "Think you can do the rest of your homework on your own?" I asked. Kara sighed and picked up the eraser.

"I _guess_." I smiled to myself, and stepped away from the board, turning to see Dash was on his laptop, phone to his ear. I went over to him, hopping onto the table as he talked on the phone.

"Mr. Cobb, glad to finally get you on the line. Oh, no. No fault of Gloria's, sir. She's a peach." I snorted at Dash's word usage. Dash gave me a look over his laptop and I winked at him, "But I was hoping to have a meeting at your home office." He continued, "You're still on 10504 Wilshire Boulevard, correct?"

"Dash." Dr. McAndrew's voice made me turn, "I've been looking all over for you." He walked into the lounge, a huge smile on his face. I let my eyes travel up Dr. McAndrew before ending at his eyes, giving him a grin of my own.

"Ah, my associate just walked in. Gonna have to call you back." Dash ended his call and looked up as Dr. McAndrew came in, "What's up, Doc?"

"I got great news." And then Dr. McAndrew pulled out a pager, "You're getting your pager." I felt my jaw drop as I grinned at Dash.

"A pager?" Kara scoffed, "What is he? A pimp from the '90s?"

"Does not concern you, Kara." Dr. McAndrew pointed out to Kara, eyes still on Dash.

"Well, then, talk quieter." I glanced at Kara, who was staring at us with wide eyes.

"So I moved up on the list?" Dash asked, taking the pager from Dr. McAndrew.

"Yes. Once you're done with your tune-up, you're gonna go home. You're gonna wait for that pager to beep. And when it does, you come back here, and we are off to the races." I grinned at Dash as did Dr. McAndrew.

"I was thinking you was just gonna come in here and tell me there was butterscotch pudding today.

But you came in here on a whole other level." Dash looked up at Dr. McAndrew with a smile.

"It's what I do." Dr. McAndrew held out his hand and him and Dash did their little handshake. I put my hands over my mouth to cover my smile as I watched the two of them, "Congrats." Dr. McAndrew said in parting. He left the room and I clapped my hands together. Dash was finally on the list. He was gonna get out.

"So, uh, what's a tune-up? Is it like a nip-tuck?" Kara asked, bounding over and hopping onto the table next to me. I rolled my eyes and let out a snort.

"You have dry-erase face." Dash said. I glanced at her to see the black marks under her nose. Kara quickly wiped her face and let out a sigh.

"What kind of list are you on?" Kara asked, acting like she was interested.

"Organ donor, the only list that matters in here." Dash explained, looking back at his laptop.

"What do you need an organ for? Don't you have, like, cystic acne or something?" Kara asked, moving her head around a bit. I made a face at Kara as Dash let out a sigh.

"Nope." He closed his laptop, "Not having this conversation." I hopped off the table as Dash pushed out of his chair. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close.

"Congrats, dude." I said before stepping back. Dash nodded at me.

"Thanks." He gave me a smile before loping around me and walking out of the lounge.

"So _why _is he on the list?" Kara asked.

"I'm not telling you." I shook my head, raising a hand and waving it before walking away from the blonde.

"Are you on the list!?" Kara called out after me. I laughed to myself as I went out in the hall.

_The night at the diner was slow. I had two tables, one of them being Carmilla, and the other just sat. I was busy filling up drinks as Carmilla chatted at me from her spot at the counter._

_"I'm just saying, he's totally into you." Carmilla said around her straw. _

_"No, he's not." I laughed, shaking my head, "Just cause he waved at me, doesn't mean he likes me." I put the drinks on the tray sitting in front of her._

_"But it means he wants to get to know you." Carmilla pointed at me. I rolled my eyes and then winced as a sharp pain shot through my upper right abdomen. _

_"You good?" Carmilla asked, noticing my wince. I waved her off._

_"I think I pulled something in gym today." I made a face, "It's nothing."_

_"You look really tired and kind of yellow." Carmilla looked at me, squinting a bit._

_"Carm, I'm fine." I said, giving her a knowing look. "Honestly, why are you even here? I told you I can't hang out tonight." _

_"Yeah, well, I have nothing better to do and I was really feeling a milkshake." Carmilla gave me a sly smile. I scoffed and rolled my eyes again._

_"I can't talk to you all night…I have tables." Carmilla made an exaggerated motion as she looked around herself._

_"I can see you're super busy." She sarcastically said. I gave her an unamused look._

_"Don't make me regret discounting your milkshake." I pointed at her. Carmilla winked at me and went back to stabbing at her milkshake. She looked up at me as I shifted the drinks on the tray, getting them in a position where it was easier to balance._

_"You really look like shit." Carmilla said. I gave her a look._

_"Wow, such a confidence booster. Thanks, Carmilla."_

_"Elaine, I'm serious. You said you were feeling kind of nauseous this morning—"_

_"I didn't have breakfast." I shook my head, "Doesn't mean anything." Carmilla stared at me as she sipped at her milkshake, "Really. Stop worrying." Carmilla made a face and mimicked me as I lifted the tray of drinks. _

_I gave her a look as I walked around the counter, going to the table. My vision started to go a bit blurry, but I assumed it was just my contacts. I blinked hard and then everything felt like it had started spinning. I felt myself tip to the side, my eyes still shut as I collapsed on the ground, the last thing I heard was the sound of the cups clattering to the ground, drinks spilling out of them._

_**A/N: Okay, yes, super short chapter, but I felt so bad that I made you guys wait this long! I've been going through some personal stuff and this kinda just fell on the back burner. And I am very sorry. Thank you so much for favoriting and following this story! Shoutouts to those who reviewed: RHatch89, Kira Tsumi, India, Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape, hella-sirius, FinalFantasyCrazedGirl01, (I find them on primewire!) TeiaShore, LunaEva Longbottom, and thehairypotter! You guys rock! xxx**_


	10. Chapter 10

Leo had caught up with me as I walked out of the lounge. I had left Kara in the lounge to figure out why Dash needed lungs. It wasn't any of my business to tell Kara Dash's secrets. That was all Dash.

"Morning." Leo said as he caught up to me.

"Morning." I gave him a small smile, "How was your night?"

"Fine." Leo nodded, "How was yours?"

"Fantastic." I could tell things were still a little awkward between us. Even though we had kinda sorta made up after Leo kissed Kara, we weren't magically back to how we were before.

The two of us walked down the hall next to each other, passing by Emma as we went. She had a book to her chest and was looking straight ahead as she passed us, not saying a word.

"Hey." Leo said as we passed. Emma didn't respond. She was still pretty upset over Leo kissing Kara.

"Emma." Leo turned around to follow Emma, "Emma, wait up." I walked with him, getting to the elevators as Ruben came out.

"Oh, Emma! Leo! Elaine! Just the people I'm looking for." He said, getting our attention. He was holding a box in his arms and placed it on the nurses' station. I watched him rummage through it before pulling out a book.

"First edition of _Mrs. Dalloway_. I thought you would enjoy." Ruben said, handing it to Emma. Emma took it and gingerly held it.

"I will enjoy it, but why are you giving it to me?" Emma asked, a bit confused.

"Because I can't take it with me when I go." Ruben answered as he handed me a couple records.

"Oh, my God. You're dying?" Leo asked as my brow furrowed.

"Eventually. But for now, I am going to India. I've had a vision, children, of the "Eat, Pray, Love" variety. I know I'm late to the Elizabeth Gilbert party, but, boy, can that dame spin a yarn." Ruben handed Leo a Who tee, "Straight from Woodstock."

"I-I can't take this." Leo shook his head as I thumbed through the records.

"Yeah, Ruben, this is too much." I said, looking back at the man.

"I insist. I'm leaving each of you a small token to remember me by." He said as he went back to looking into the box, "Now, where is Jordi? I have a puka-shell necklace with his name on it."

"He's in his room, but, um, I'm not sure that now's the best time." Emma said, "He's got a social worker in there with him talking about tax returns and all this other grown-up stuff. Frankly, the whole thing sucks." Emma explained.

"It does suck." Ruben nodded, "To willingly embrace adulthood. No small thing." He shook his finger at us, "But not everything about being a grown-up has to suck." I could tell Ruben was getting an idea, "Yeah, come with me." Ruben started to walk off, indicating that we should follow.

"We're not doing drugs now." Leo groaned.

"No, it's my off-day." Ruben shook his head, "Nonetheless, come with me." Ruben continued to walk down the hall. Emma started to follow and Leo looked at me.

"You coming?" He asked.

"Uh, I don't think so." I shook my head, "I have to go to the radio booth. It's bingo day." I said,raising my eyebrows.

"Fun." Leo laughed a little, "Well, we'll hang later?"

"Yeah, totally." I nodded, giving him a grin, "Cafeteria?"

"I'll text you." Leo responded before heading off. I watched him go before turning around and heading to the elevators to go up to my room.

_It was cold. The room I was in was cold and white. I was pretty sure I had died. I was dead. I had died a virgin and on the floor of my parent's diner. Fantastic. _

_"Hey!" I heard a voice say from behind me. I turned and looked down the white hallway to see a small boy. _

_"Hi?" I called back, walking towards him, "What's going on?" I asked him._

_"You're okay." The kid reassured me. "You're not dead or anything."_

_"Oh." I responded, "Are you?"_

_"No." The boy shook his head, "I'm Charlie."_

_"Hi, Charlie." I said back, "I'm Elaine. Are you okay?"_

_"I'm stuck." He looked like he couldn't be more than twelve years old. He was dressed in red pjs and his hair was messy._

_"In here?" I asked, pointing at the ground as I walked to him. _

_"Yeah." Charlie looked tired. _

_"Can I do anything to help get you out?" I asked as he sat down on the ground. I sat across from him, the hospital gown puddling around my lap._

_"I don't know." Charlie shook his head, "Can you just stay here with me? I'm a little scared."_

_"Of course, buddy." I gave him a small smile. I looked around the hallway, noticing the stack of games and cards by the wall._

_"Do you know how to play Spit?" I asked him. Charlie shook his head. I went over to get the pack of cards._

_"Here, I'll teach you." I said, opening the cards and shuffling the deck. _

I handed the board game to the little one who won Bingo. He grinned at me before scampering back off to his nurse. I straightened up and cleaned up the pieces from the game, putting the box back on the shelf. Mrs. Garrett gave me a proud smile as she stepped into the booth.

"Those kids love Bingo days." She said, "Mostly because of you."

"Oh, yeah, right." I rolled my eyes and slung my heart monitor over my shoulder, "I just think they like to try and win games."

"Good point." Mrs. Garrett laughed a little. "Have a good rest of your day, Elaine."

"You too, Mrs. Garrett." I nodded at her before stepping out of the radio booth.

I walked down the hall, passing by Charlie's room as I went to the elevators. There were two men in suits standing with Dr. McAndrew and Nurse Jackson, overlooking Charlie. I paused and watched them for a moment before turning to see Kenji sitting at the nurse's station.

"What's going on?" I asked, pulling my heart monitor up to rest on the counter.

"Suits." Kenji responded, "They're evaluating Charlie. He hasn't made any real progress so they're thinking of moving him to a longer term facility."

"What?" I asked, brow furrowing, "Can they do that?"

"Sweetheart, suits can do anything." Kenji said as he rolled back on his chair, "They are the powers that be."

"No, no, he can't leave." I shook my head, "Charlie can't go!" I started to panic about Charlie. He wasn't making any progress. He was leaving Ocean Park.

"No, Kenji, he can't go. He's only a kid!" I gripped onto the edge of the counter.

"Hey, babygirl, calm down." Kenji came back, "They're just thinking of it."

"No, no no no." I shook my head, "Kenji, he can't."

"Calm down, sweetie." Kenji took my hand in his, "It's gonna be okay."

"I—I have to go." I whispered before taking my hand back and spinning around. I ran down the hall, hearing Kenji yelling at me to not to run.

_Ocean Park was bigger than my usual hospital. The liver biopsy went smoothly and I woke to my parents giving me sad smiles. I rested for a bit before the doctor told me that I needed to get a liver transplant. Since I was already under, the doctors talked with my parents and they agreed to do the liver transplant then and there. I was told to walk around, get a feel for the hospital since I was going to be spending a few weeks there. _

_I walked the halls by myself as my parents and Mia talked medical stuff with my doctors. I moseyed down to the main floor and walked by a room with a sleeping little boy. Charlie. I went up to the window to see him peacefully sleeping, monitors beeping in sync. _

_"Hey." I heard a voice say from next to me. I turned to see a taller boy around my age. He looked like a wannabe rapper. _

_"Hi." I softly said back, "I know that kid." I nodded to Charlie._

_"Yeah, that's Charlie. Not a surprise you know him." The boy responded, "He's the man."_

_"I'm Elaine." I said, sticking my hand out. The boy had an IV next to him, water dripping down the tube and into his arm._

_"Dash." Dash introduced himself, "So what's your damage? When didya meet the man?"_

_"During my liver transplant." I said with a nod, "We played Spit."_

_"Classic." Dash grinned at me, "Well, welcome to the neighborhood."_

_"Thanks, Dash." I said, smiling back at him._

_"I'll see you around." Dash said, patting my shoulder before walking down the hall, IV rolling next to him. _

_"Hey, wait." I called after him, getting his attention, "Mind showing me around?" I asked, "I don't wanna get lost on the maternity floor." I gave him a small smile. Dash nodded._

_"I'd be down for a little tour. Plus I need some help with something." I grinned at him and walked up to him, looking over my shoulder at Charlie's room before following Dash to the service elevator._

"You're coming with us." Kara said, putting her arm through mine and turning me around so we were walking down the hall. I looked over to see Dash with a duffle bag and he nodded at me.

"Where?" I asked as Kara pushed the elevator button.

"The apartments." Kara answered as we got onto the elevator. I raised my eyebrows.

"She's got connections." Dash added on as the elevator doors closed.

The three of us quickly crossed the streets and went into the apartment building. Kara took the lead and went to the main desk as Dash and I sat down on one of the many couches. I nudged the bag with my foot and glanced at him.

"What's in the bag?" I asked him.

"Decorating supplies." Dash answered back, looking at me. I nodded and turned back to watch Kara come back over to us.

"Bam. In your face." Kara said making a motion with her arms, "Now, are you gonna tell me what we're doing here?" She asked, plopping down next to Dash.

"Chill, grasshopper." Dash said as he looked around the lobby.

"Oh, my God." Kara gasped out, grabbing Dash's arm, "Is this your first time out of the ghetto?" She laughed a little, "Should we take a selfie?" Kara pulled out her phone and pulled up the camera.

"Bitch, I'm from Brentwood." Dash stopped her, "My father teaches Poli Sci at UCLA."

"Yeah, like I invented racial profiling." Kara grumbled, putting her phone down, "Whatever. You seem freakishly impressed by walnut paneling."

"Hello! Hello!" A woman with a chipper voice said as she hurried into the lobby.

"Hey!" Kara stood up and went over to the woman.

"Sorry I'm late." The woman apologized as she kissed Kara on both cheeks.

"Thank you so much for meeting us." Kara said as she stepped back from the greeting.

"Of course." I stood up as did Dash as Kara explained the reason she was supposedly looking at apartments.

"Okay, so this is kind of on the D.L., but one of my moms might be looking for a little escape hatch. I'm doing a smidgle of recon." Kara explained. The woman winked at her.

"Ohh, say no more." Then she noticed us, "And you are?" Kara turned around and went over to Dash.

"Oh. This is Dashiell, my designer. He's a genius. And this is Elaine. She's one of my best friends and my moms love her input." I was a little taken aback, but kept myself composed.

"Fabulous." The woman smiled at us, "Shall we?"

We followed the woman up to the room, where she opened the door and stepped inside before us.

"Well, here we are." She said, letting us step in after her and look at the sheet covered room.

"So? What do you think?" The woman asked as I looked around the room.

"Yeah. What do you think, Dashiell?" Kara asked, looking at Dash. I glanced down from the ceiling to see Dash put his bag on the table and look around the room.

"The lines…They're a bit expected, but I-I think we can shake things up with a little bit of texture. Like, this whole area is begging for an impudent wallpaper." I raised my eyebrows and shared a look with Kara. She looked just as surprised that Dash knew what impudent wallpaper was.

"I can see that." The woman nodded.

"I'll need to be in the space alone, just to really get a sense of the story." Dash said, walking around the space.

"Yeah, th-this is how he works." I heard Kara say. The woman gave a little laugh.

"Absolutely. I will leave you guys." She kissed Kara's cheek again, "We'll be in touch." The woman said in parting before exiting the room. Kara let out a sigh.

"You know what impudent wallpaper is?" I asked Dash, getting him to look at me.

"Yeah, we have it in our living room." Dash explained before going for his bag.

"Okay, seriously, what are we doing here?" She asked as Dash moved for the door, "Hello?" She asked as Dash walked out of the apartment. I followed, Kara close behind.

Dash led us to the roof where he set his bag down and unzipped it, pulling out two spray cans from the dozen or so that were in the bag. I leaned against the railing as Dash surveyed the blank space.

"Ohh! Now I get it." Kara said from her corner, "You're a vandal."

_"Not a vandal." Dash corrected me as he stepped away from the emergency stop button. "An artist."_

_"Oh, okay." I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, makes total sense to deface hospital property." _

_"I just want to be remembered." Dash said as he shook the black spray paint can, "Who knows how long it's gonna take for me to get a pair of new lungs. Not all of us are as lucky as you."_

_"Good point." I sighed, leaning against the back of the elevator as Dash unhooked himself from the empty IV. I watched him climb up onto the door, starting to spray paint his name on the door. _

_I watched Dash for twenty minutes as he meticulously painted his name onto the door of the elevator. He made it so every time the door came down, his name would be displayed in massive letters. He would always be remembered. And that's all Dash wanted. _

Kara and I watched Dash finish up his art. The wall was covered with colorful shapes and lines that Dash worked on as the sun dipped lower in the sky. Once he was finished, Dash stepped back and Kara hopped off the railing she was sitting atop of. I was leaning against one of the pillars, watching Dash. It had been soothing and had taken my mind off of Charlie and his transfer.

"That's shockingly good." Kara commented.

"I know." Dash answered. I grinned at him.

"But, I mean, why here? No one's even gonna see it. Is this, like, a Banksy thing?" Kara asked, inspecting the wall.

"You know about Banksy?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Kara glared at me through her circle sunglasses.

"Whatever. Dash knows about impudent wallpaper. Surprises all around." She said. I rolled my eyes and followed Dash back into the building to get back to the hospital.

I left Dash and Kara, heading to the cafeteria to grab some snacks or something. It was getting dark, but we had already missed dinner that was served the cafeteria and I didn't like to bother any of the nurses during their rounds. I was still waiting for Leo to text me about hanging out, so I figured I'd just wait for him the cafeteria.

When I got there, I saw Emma and Leo in the center of the cafeteria, looking like they were ready to battle. I quietly walked behind the counter where food usually was, not getting either of their attentions. I took a cupcake from the container of leftover desserts that was left out as Emma and Leo argued.

"She's the natural finish to your sentence." Emma snapped at Leo.

"Can we pause just for a second to acknowledge that I disagree with everything you're saying?" Leo asked, holding up a hand.

"Why bother? Why bother with me? Don't slum it on my account, Leo, because I don't care what you do." Emma was pissed. She was finally exploding in front of Leo about everything that he had done to her.

"Really? 'Cause you're kind of acting like a person who cares." Leo argued back. How is it okay for you to be this self-righteously angry? It makes no sense!"

"You're the one who insisted we should just be friends!" Emma shouted back.

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind, all right?" Leo yelled back, advancing a bit. "I don't want to be friends!"

"Great! Neither do I!" Emma said and then Leo surged forward, kissing Emma. I felt the cupcake tumble out of my hands, landing with a splat on the counter as Leo and Emma continued to kiss. At the sound, both of them turned to look at me. I closed my mouth and shook my head a bit, eyes on Leo, before turning around and hurrying out of the cafeteria.

"Elaine!" I heard Jordi's voice from behind me. I didn't stop as I stomped down the hall. I was _furious_. Leo going on and on about how over Emma he was. How Emma said how much she was interested in Jordi. Jordi. Jordi and Emma. Emma and Leo. I stopped walking and whirled around, hair flying as Jordi looked at me.

I hesitated for a moment, a split second, before pushing Jordi up against the wall and pressing my mouth to his. I kissed him, hard and fast. I went to pull back, but Jordi grabbed my face and pulled me to him, kissing me again. I felt something buzz in his pocket.

"Your balls are vibrating." I said as I pulled back from him. I felt my phone buzz too and I reached into my purse to pull out my phone. There was a text from Leo.

_Rooftop. It's important._

I stared at Jordi before fixing my shirt and walking away from him, headed towards the roof. I had kissed Jordi. Jordi kissed me. I was a _slut_. I wasn't even interested in Jordi. I just wanted to make Leo feel as bad as he made me feel when he kissed Kara. But Leo didn't even see it.

"Since when do we group text?" Kara asked as I stepped out onto the roof after her. Dash was already on the roof, staring at the building across the street from us. His mural was proudly being displayed.

"Oh my God, Dash." I whispered as I walked up to him, "It looks amazing." I hugged his waist as he tried to play it cool.

"What's going on?" Jordi asked as he came out onto the roof, "Why are we gathering?"

"I'm not sure, but Leo said it was important." Dash answered as Jordi came down to where we were standing.

"Ah, well, if Leo says it's important, it must be, right?" He glanced at me. I gave him a small smile and the looked at my feet for a moment before looking up.

"What's the occasion?" I asked as Leo and Emma came out onto the roof. Leo handed out bottles of beer to everyone as he passed us.

"Charlie's being transferred." Leo answered. I felt my heart tighten up at the mention. I hadn't gotten a chance to say goodbye, or try and fight it. I was so worried about my own problems that I completely forgot about Charlie.

"I think we should have a toast. To Charlie." Leo said, lifting his bottle.

"To Charlie." All of us responded before clinking our bottles together. We turned and looked out over the city, staring at Dash's artwork.

"That wasn't there yesterday." Leo stated the obvious. I smiled to myself.

"Yeah, man. It just came out of nowhere." Dash answered, glancing to his friend.

"It's beautiful." Emma whispered.

"It's amazing." Jordi agreed. I glanced over to see the two of them holding hands. I sighed and looked back at Dash's artwork. Dash and Kara were standing together and Leo moved closer to me. I took a step to the side, making sure it was obvious. I didn't make eye contact with him as I took a swig of my beer, not even caring about the consequences anymore.

_**A/N: Welp. Elaine is more than a little upset with Leo. Thank you for favoriting and following this story! Also thank you to those who have reviewed; RHatch89, Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape, Guest, thehairypotter, Guest, and dabombbritt! You all are amazing! xx**_


End file.
